From Staff Reports
A measure voted through the Oklahoma Senate would require parental consent for minors to access birth control or vaccinations.
Senate Bill 1225 would give parents more control of health care choices for their children. It would require schools and health professionals to get consent from parents before administering vaccinations and female contraceptives.
The bill’s author, Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, began the discussion of the bill with a story that motivated its existence.
“The school loaded up a busload of girls, brought them to the (Tulsa) county health office and injected them with three years of contraception, never did tell the parents,” he said.
Tulsa Health Department officials responded to the comments made by Bullard about the agency serving Tulsa County by saying parental involvement is encouraged.
“Tulsa Health Department provides services to clients who come to a clinical service location. THD works with multiple community partners to assist clients with transportation needs for services,” Preventive Health Division Chief Priscilla Haynes said. “Under Title X guidelines, young people of reproductive age can make decisions on their own and may self-consent for family planning services at THD.”
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Bullard said his measure is more about getting parents informed than limiting contraception.
“We’re not banning girls from taking it,” Bullard said during discussion on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Just banning the health departments and schools from administering it to them.”
Upon questioning from Sen. Carri Hicks on the language of the measure applying to any health professional, Bullard added hospitals to his list of potential providers.
Bullard said the bill has no protection for a minor who doesn’t report they are a sexual assault victim.
Minors would be able to obtain contraceptive services without parental consent if they’ve been pregnant before, he said.
Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, began debate on the bill by mentioning how many abortion-restricting measures have already passed in the Senate this session.
“We cannot pass this bill,” Kirt said, “and reduce abortion. This bill limits … all the reasonable ways to reduce teen pregnancy.”
Oklahoma remains among the states with the highest teen birth rate, according to a study last year. Compared to the national rate of 16.6 per 1,000 females age 15-19, the teen birth rate in Oklahoma is 27.4.
In addition to contraceptive uses, birth control may be prescribed to relieve menstrual irregularities or painful ovulation, both commonly reported by young women.
“Boys don’t need parental consent to buy condoms, but girls do for birth control?” Hicks asked Bullard, noting the measure seems to apply only to female health.
Some parents may object to contraceptives as a religious belief. The practice has led health care professional organizations to respond that “the potential health risks to adolescents if they are unable to obtain reproductive health services are so compelling that legal barriers and deference to parental involvement should not stand in the way of needed health care for patients who request confidentiality.”
A floor substitute for the measure added vaccines to health care decisions that require parental consent for minors. The COVID-19 pandemic reignited debate on whether minors should be able to obtain vaccinations without parental consent.
The bill passed 31-11 and moves to the House for consideration.
Still alive this session: Abortion restrictions, $125 checks for Oklahomans, daylight time, corporate tax cuts and more
Restricting abortions in Oklahoma
Senate Bill 1503, by Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, is modeled after a Texas bill that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed to go into effect. The law effectively bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. It would allow third parties to sue for up to $10,000 abortion providers and anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion.
Senate Bill 1553, by Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, would prohibit an abortion after 30 days since the probable beginning of a pregnant woman’s last menstrual period.
Senate Joint Resolution 17, by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, would ask voters to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to say life begins at conception and ban abortion-inducing drugs.
Click here to read more from Barbara Hoberock.
House Bill 4327, by Rep. Wendi Stearman, R-Bartlesville, is very similar to a Texas law allowing individuals claiming to have been harmed in any way by an abortion, whether to themselves or someone else, to sue anyone alleged to have been involved in the abortion.
It also requires the defendant to prove their innocence and forecloses any action against the plaintiff for frivolous lawsuits. It allows exceptions for rape, incest and to save the woman’s life.
Andrew Harnik, AP file
Handing over the reins on school meals

House Bill 3432 would designate the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry as the state agency in charge of the National School Lunch Act instead of the state Department of Education. Senate Bill 1624 says it would grant the Board of Agriculture the authority to administer the National School Lunch Act.
Read more from Barbara Hoberock.
Michael Noble Jr., Tulsa World file
Giving tax credits for parents paying children’s teachers extra

Click here to read the story by Randy Krehbiel.
STEPHEN PINGRY, Tulsa World file
Curbing catalytic converter thefts

A honeycomb structure made of platinum, palladium and other pricey metals can be found in catalytic converters. House Bill 4375, by Rep. Ross Ford, R-Broken Arrow, would create a new felony for convicted catalytic converter thieves. HB 4373 would expand third-degree burglary to include the theft of tires, wheels and catalytic converters.
Ian Maule, Tulsa World file
Responding to grants sought to make voting easier

Mike Simons, Tulsa World file
A raise for Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers

Jim Beckel, the Oklahoman file
Sending money to Oklahomans

Read a story on the proposal by Randy Krehbiel.
Tom Gilbert, Tulsa World file
Making school boards more accessible

Screenshot from Oklahoma State Board of Education livestream
Requiring parental consent for health choices

Click here to read the story.
Tulsa World file
Epic inspires reformed oversight for virtual schools

House Bill 3643, by Rep. Sheila Dills, R-Tulsa, would change virtual charter schools’ governance and financial reporting in the wake of revelations concerning the use of state funds by Oklahoma’s largest such enterprise, Epic. Pictured: Paul Campbell, Epic board chair, speaks during a House interim study requested by Dills.
HB 3644, also by Dills, would apply more stringent standards and responsibilities on all charter school boards and their sponsoring organizations. HB 3645, would define attendance standards for virtual charter schools.
Click here to read more from Randy Krehbiel.
Andrea Eger, Tulsa World file
Helping medical marijuana businesses bank

Click here to read more from Randy Krehbiel.
Associated Press file
Continued work on medical marijuana oversight

The measures included a moratorium of up to two years on new business licenses, steep fee increases for large grow operations, a new procedure for obtaining business licenses and authorization for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority access to grower water and electric usage records.
Click here to read the story from Randy Krehbiel.
Mike Simons, Tulsa World file
A ‘live round’ affecting state revenue

Click here to read the story from Randy Krehbiel.
“If we don’t pass this, governments will know they can regulate your food.”

House Bill 2979, by Rep. Rick West, R-Heavener, forbids local governments from regulating home gardens, except to control water and fertilizer usage and invasive species.
Read more from Randy Krehbiel.
MIKE SIMONS, Tulsa World file
Helping descendants affected by Race Massacre

House Bill 4154, by Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, enhances the 20-year-old Tulsa Reconciliation Scholarship Trust in an attempt to increase utilization and target descendants of those affected by Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre.
Mike Simons, Tulsa World file
Limiting transgender athletes

Senate Bill 2 would prevent transgender children in Oklahoma athletics programs from competing against those born with a different biological sex. An amendment to the bill approved March 24 would require schools to file annual affidavits regarding the biological sex of each student.
Rick Bowmer/AP file
Changing how judges are selected

The measure would let voters decide whether to alter the Oklahoma Constitution, asking them to abolish the Judicial Nominating Commission, which screens candidates and refers names to the governor. Senate Joint Resolution 43, by Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, proposes the governor appoint judges with advice and consent of the Senate, the same as the federal system.
Click here to read more from Barbara Hoberock.
Addressing “period poverty”

Senate Bill 1499 calls feminine hygiene products “medically necessary” and seeks to make them more accessible to those in need. The measure would tackle “period poverty” by providing free menstrual cycle products for those in need and refunding sales taxes on feminine hygiene products for others.
Click here to read the story from Ashley Jones.
Michael Noble Jr., Tulsa World
Trying out a change to grocery taxes

Mike Simons, Tulsa World file
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