The midwestern state of Oklahoma is a breeding ground for anti-choice groups and policy advocates. It's not surprise that increasing restrictive laws and ballot measures are put up for votes in the state. Previously, the state tried to pass a law that would require doctors to examine an ultrasound of the fetus in great detail to the woman seeking an abortion. That law didn't pass, but Oklahoma is back for more!
A new law goes into effect in Oklahoma on November 1st which requires doctors to answer a detailed questionnaire about the abortion. The answers to this questionnaire will be posted online with a website that would cost roughly $200,000 a year to maintain. Lawmakers claim this data will help with "academic research", but the manner in which it is collected is fraught with problems, namely the truthfulness of the patient's answers, and the doctor's recording or interpretation of those answers.
The questions do not include information such as the mother's name and address, but that doesn't make them any less hostile. The questions posed in this survey are deeply personal, and can be used to make unfortunate correlations. What happens when an African American woman says she is seeking an abortion because she doesn't have a partner, or that she's on welfare? The answers to these questions will feed a fire that doesn't need to burn any hotter.
For example, the first eight questions include highly personal information, only one or two or which are actually important when it comes down to the medical procedure itself. From these eight questions alone, it would not be difficult to determine which woman in a small town obtained an abortion.
Aside from the threat to the woman's privacy are the questions that condemn her choice even further. What the "infant born alive"? And if it was did they try any "life-sustaining measures?" Most importantly: "how long did the infant survive?"
The questionnaire then puts forth over a page and a half of "reasons" why the woman decided to have an abortion. Aside from the fact that the entire questionnaire uses the phrase "mother" instead of "woman", the reasons for abortion are never positive. Some gems:
- Mother is unemployed
- Husband or partner is unemployed
- Mother is not certain of relationship with the father of the child
- Mother is unmarried, also: Mother is not currently in a relationship
- Mother is currently or temporarily on welfare or public assistance
- Partner and mother are unable to or do not want to get married
Of course, the very last option says that the patient declined to state why she was having an abortion. Women in Oklahoma, if this law passes, please decline to state.
The Center for Reproductive Rights has already slapped a lawsuit on Oklahoma, claiming that the law covers too much and does too much. This tactic has been successful before, so here's hoping they win again and the law gets struck down.
The sad things is that this won't be the last time Oklahoma will try to make obtaining an abortion was psychologically traumatic as possible. The good news? It looks like they've finally realized abortion won't be illegal on the federal level any time soon.
Photo taken by Liz Abinante at the March for Women's Lives in Washington D.C., April 2004.