Okla. Faces Rising Costs In Defending Antiabortion Laws

The cost of defending two state antiabortion-rights laws continues to escalate as Oklahoma battles legal challenges to the statutes, the Tulsa World reports. Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson in August struck down a law (SB 1878) that would have required women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound within an hour of the procedure and have the details of the image explained to her. It also dealt with the posting of signs in clinics, medical abortion and lawsuits. Robertson said the bill violated the Oklahoma Constitution by addressing more than one issue. The ruling has been appealed to the state Supreme Court.

According to Charlie Price, spokesperson for Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, the state spent $97,000 to hire a lawyer to defend the law. In addition, the state paid a portion of the $62,000 salary of an assistant attorney general who worked on the case, Price said.

Oklahoma also is a law (HB 1595) that requires abortion providers to report detailed information about women seeking the procedure, including age, marital status, education, number of previous pregnancies, reason for wanting an abortion, relationship with her partner and type of payment, among other details. It also bans abortion based on gender. Two women are challenging the measure in Oklahoma City District Court on the grounds that it also violates the single-subject rule. Price said that he does not know how much the state has spent defending the bill but that the contract to defend the bill has a spending cap of $100,000. The law was scheduled to take effect Nov. 1, 2009, but is on hold (Hoberock, Tulsa World, 12/27/09).


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