Tulsa, Okla., Oct 22, 2009 / 04:25 am
Proponents of Oklahoma legislation that would ban sex-selective abortions and would require the collection and internet publication of statistics on abortions in the state are denying critics’ claims that the bill would violate the privacy of women seeking abortions.
Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act is slated to take effect on Nov. 1, but it may be held up in court.
The Act requires the Oklahoma Department of Health to publish data online on all abortion patients, including the woman’s race, marital status, financial circumstances, years of education, number of previous pregnancies and her reason for seeking the abortion.
The law does not allow women’s names to be posted, but it requires women to answer 37 questions, including a question about the county in which the abortion is performed. Sen. Todd Lamb (R-Okla.) told CNN on Wednesday that the questions were derived from questionnaires used by the Guttmacher Institutehe, the former research arm of Planned Parenthood.