Oklahoma Abortion Law Challenged

Next Tuesday, an Oklahoma judge will decide whether or not a woman seeking an abortion will be made to see her sonogram, and have it described out loud to her, before she is able to receive the procedure.

Next Tuesday, an Oklahoma judge will decide whether or not a
woman seeking an abortion will be made to see her sonogram, and have it
described out loud to her, before she is able to receive the procedure. 

"The new law passed last year requires a woman to have an
ultrasound and then have the images described to her, before she can have an
abortion," according to a story from Oklahoma City’s KSBI. "That law has never been enforced because a Tulsa
clinic is challenging it." 

Attorneys for the state defended the law in a hearing
yesterday, saying that it was in the woman’s best interest to have an
ultrasound at least an hour before the abortion is scheduled, as the law
stipulates. 

"This is simply an attempt to stop a law that protects
woman’s health in the state of Oklahoma from going into effect but their own
practices show there is nothing unusual about this law," said Teresa
Collete, Attorney General, Special Assistant. 

But according to Stephanie Toti, an attorney for the New
York-based Center for Reproductive Rights who is representing Tulsa
Reproductive Services, the law is the most extreme in the country. According to
an AP report, Toti’s argument today in front of District Judge Vicki Robertson was
based on the fact that the law is unclear in its language. 

"During oral arguments, she
told District Judge Vicki Robertson that the law does not describe in
sufficient detail what a physician or other medical professional is supposed to
say to a woman about the ultrasound image.

 "‘There are a million
different things that a doctor could tell a patient about an ultrasound,’ Toti
said. ‘It is not clear what a physician must say.’"