OKLAHOMA CITY – A lawsuit was filed Thursday seeking to stop a law that would put restrictions on the use of emergency contraception.
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the suit in Oklahoma County District Court seeking to stop House Bill 2226, by Rep. Colby Schwartz, R-Yukon, and Sen. AJ Griffin, R-Guthrie. The measure is set to take effect Aug. 22.
Neither lawmaker could immediately be reached for comment.
The measure requires women 17 and older to show identification to a pharmacist in order to obtain Plan B One-Step and other generic emergency contraceptives. It also requires those under age 17 to have a prescription to obtain the drugs.
According to the center, the measure attempts to reinstate restrictions on access to emergency contraception which have been removed by the FDA, thus imposing unique limits on Oklahoma women's ability to get the medication.
The generic name of the medication used in Plan B One-Step is levonorgestrel, an emergency contraceptive that is taken after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy, according to the suit.
"Levonorgestrel is believed to act principally by preventing ovulation and/or fertilization," the suit states. "It is not capable of terminating an existing pregnancy."
The Center for Reproductive Rights, representing Jo Ann Magili of Mounds and the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice, alleges the measure is unconstitutional because it violates the state ban on bills that contain more than one subject. The measure primarily focuses on regulating health insurance benefit forms, according to the suit. The center also alleges it is an illegal special law, according to the suit.
The center has had legal victories challenging Oklahoma laws that put restrictions on abortion.
"The opponents of women's rights in the Oklahoma Legislature are like the worst kind of broken record, repeating their attempts to deny Oklahoma women essential reproductive health care again and again and again," said Bebe Anderson, director for the U.S. legal program for the Center for Reproductive Rights.
"At a time when the federal government has taken an historic step to make emergency contraception more available to millions of women across the country, these hostile politicians have chosen to stand in the way of progress and cast aside their state's constitution to impose arbitrary barriers on safe and effective birth control."
Gov. Mary Fallin signed the measure on May 29.
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