Oklahoma House passes anti-abortion bills

OKLAHOMA CITY, March 13 (UPI) -- The Oklahoma House has approved anti-abortion bills that further restrict parental notification laws and reporting requirements for clinics.

The measures were adopted Tuesday by large majorities, The Oklahoman reported, but one Republican member warned colleagues, who control the state Legislature, the restrictions could further harm the party's standing among women.

"We keep doing stuff like this over and over and over again ... pretty soon we're going to start pushing the women in Oklahoma out of the Republican Party, because they're going to say those guys really don't have any respect for a woman, a woman's independence and a woman's right to determine her own destiny," state Rep. Doug Cox said.

One of the bills would do away with current law allowing women under age 18 to bypass their parents and get approval from a judge to have an abortion. Another would retain the state's judicial bypass provision, but require that teens go before judges in the county where they live.

The third measure would add questions to the reporting form on abortions. The bill would also add information to the annual report released by the state and allow registered voters to bring actions against clinics that fail to comply with reporting regulations.