Oklahoma governor signs bill outlawing trafficking of abortion-inducing drugs

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed legislation May 5 that criminalizes the trafficking and distribution of abortion-inducing drugs in the state.

Key Takeaways:

• House Bill 1168 criminalizes abortion-drug trafficking in Oklahoma.

• The bill was signed by Governor Kevin Stitt on May 5.

• Violators face a felony charge with a $100,000 fine and/or 10 years in prison.

• Online and mail-order access to the abortion pill has led to abortion pill injuries and resulted in abusive men ordering the pills themselves and then tricking, coercing, or forcing women into abortions they did not want.

The Details:

House Bill 1168 makes it a crime to provide abortion-inducing drugs, such as the abortion pill, to anyone intending to use the drugs to commit an unlawful abortion. Violators will face a felony charge and a $100,000 fine, 10 years in prison, or both.

The bill was authored by Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, who said that though nearly all preborn children in the state are protected from abortion, the abortion pill is still making its way into the hands of vulnerable women.

"What has happened, however, since that has become law in our state, is that people are trafficking abortion-inducing drugs to women who are already in a vulnerable state," Crosswhite Hader said. "That's unscrupulous, and it needs to stop. This bill is about protecting women from the horrible side effects of these pills. It's also to protect women from being taken advantage of by someone looking to personally profit from the distribution of these pills."

The bill's Senate sponsor, Sen. David Bullard, called the abortion pill "the greatest threat to motherhood," saying:

The trafficking of the abortion pill is no different than human trafficking and possibly worse. It is the largest killer of babies and the greatest threat to motherhood.

It is the death sentence to an innocent baby who has been convicted of no crime and a false hope to a mother, soon to kill the child she carries. In fact, the injustice of the abortion pill being trafficked in Oklahoma is a generational loss of Holocaust proportions, and the victims are always twofold.

Today, we took a big step in stopping both of those wrongs. Oklahoma will continue to stand for the rights of a person to have life, liberty, and property."

Why It Matters:

In 2021, the FDA loosened its safety regulations for the abortion pill by eliminating the in-person dispensing requirement and enabling it to be permanently shipped by mail. This means that women are now taking the abortion pill at home, without any oversight from a doctor — and many are being injured in the process.

Additionally, lack of in-person dispensing has resulted in abusive men ordering the pills themselves and then tricking, coercing, or forcing women into abortions they did not want.

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The Bottom Line:

Though states like Oklahoma have passed laws protecting preborn children from abortion, those laws are routinely being flouted by abortionists who are shipping pills into the state. This Oklahoma bill is another attempt to protect women and children.