Senate panel passes ban on abortions after 20 weeks
BY BARBARA HOBEROCK World Staff Writer
Monday, March 28, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY — A Senate panel on Monday passed a measure banning abortions after 20 weeks unless it is to save the life of the mother or prevent her from losing significant bodily function.
Dubbed the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” House Bill 1888 by Reps. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa, and Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, heads to the full Senate.
It passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee by a vote of 6-1.
Jolley said an unborn child can feel pain at 20 weeks.
The measure does not provide an exemption in situations where the unborn child will not survive once it is born because of a medical problem.
“They will have zero chance of survival if they abort,” Jolley said.
Jolley said parents will need to make a decision prior to 20 weeks.
“They may not be viable, but they can feel pain,” Jolley said.
Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, cast the lone no vote. He said most abortions in Oklahoma aren’t done after 16 weeks.
Read more in Tuesday's World and at tulsaworld.com.
