Abortion

Oklahoma AG Appeals “Off-Label Drug Ban” Ruling

The Oklahoma AG is attempting to strike down a ruling that said the state can't ban the use of drugs commonly used in abortions just because it's not their original use.

Misoprotol, the "medication abortion" pill. [img src]

The state of Oklahoma was disappointed when their new law banning “off label drug use” was blocked by the courts. The ban, which would make it illegal to prescribe medications to be used for any purpose other than the one they were originally created to address, was intended to stop doctors from being able to perform medication abortions in the state.

Now, the Attorney General is making another try at getting the law into effect.

Via NECN.com:

Attorney General Scott Pruitt says he’s appealing a judge’s ruling that struck down an Oklahoma law restricting the off-label use of certain abortion-inducing drugs.

District Judge Donald Worthington last month invalidated the 2011 law, saying it violated a woman’s fundamental right to privacy and bodily integrity.

But Pruitt said Thursday the judge ruled the Oklahoma Constitution contains a right to an abortion, a right never before recognized in any Oklahoma court.

The courts originally rebuked the bill in May, when the judge called the law “so completely at odds with the standard that governs the practice of medicine that [the bill] can serve no purpose other than to prevent women from obtaining abortions and to punish and discriminate against those women who do.”  The bill was originally challenged by the Center for Reproductive Rights.