Abortion Bills Pass House Committee Hours After Stitt Signs Measure Banning Most Procedures

After Gov. Kevin Stitt signed one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country, three more proposals that would limit the procedure passed a House committee.  

Senate bills 1553, 1555, and Senate joint resolution 37 all advanced from the House rules committee Thursday afternoon.  

Related: Governor Stitt Signs Abortion Ban, Legal Challenges Expected 

All three measures are authored by the leaders of the two chambers, Senate President Pro-Tempore Greg Treat and Speaker of the House Charles McCall.  

Senate bill 1553 would prohibit abortions 30 days after a pregnant woman’s last menstrual period, and 1555 would modify an existing state “trigger” law that enacts restrictions on abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the precedent set in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.  

SJR 37 would ask voters to amend the state constitution to state it does not provide a right to an abortion.  

The measures follow SB 612, which Stitt signed into law Tuesday morning. The bill makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.  

“We don’t want to allow abortions in the state of Oklahoma,” Stitt said at the signing ceremony.  

During the committee hearing, Minority Leader Emily Virgin asked Rep. Jon Echols, who was presenting SB 1553, why it was “necessary” given SB 612 was signed.  

 “In its current form, I’m not sure it is,” Echols said.  

Legal analyst and attorney Irven Box said Republicans are likely to pass several forms of abortion-limiting bills because of a pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which centers on the right to an abortion.  

“I think they’re just like throwing darts at the wall and trying to see what sticks,” Box said.