Public Health

Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, today urged Oklahomans to express their support of a bill to curb youth use of tobacco products. House Bill 3331 would increase the fines for selling any tobacco product, nicotine product or vapor product to someone under 21. Current law only fines the clerk, whereas HB3331 would fine the business owner as well. Roe, who has been a registered nurse for 41 years and a nurse practitioner for 24 years, said this change is necessary given the sharp increase in recent years in teenage tobacco use. The use of these products, including vaping, is linked to numerous health issues. According to the most recently available data from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), 21.7% of Oklahoma youth reported they had used a vaping product in the last 30 days. The national rate is about 10%. In that same survey, 8.5% of Oklahoma youth used vapes at least 20 out of the last 30 days. "By making it harder for children to access these products that are already illegal for them to purchase, we can save them from a lifetime of health concerns," Roe said. "Fines and fees are nothing compared to the tens of thousands of dollars an Oklahoman may spend throughout their life on health issues that arose because of tobacco use that started as a teenager." Roe said, given that around 90% of current tobacco users started before age 18, preventing youth from starting vape or tobacco use is key. She urged Oklahomans to reach out to their state legislators to encourage their support of HB3331. "With our deadline to adjourn sine die quickly approaching, we need to take action now to curb the tobacco epidemic among our youth," Roe said. "We cannot afford to wait any longer to take substantive action. Every day that we delay House Bill 3331, we risk more of Oklahoma's children becoming shackled to a lifelong tobacco addiction." HB3331, which was amended in the conference committee process, is now eligible to be considered again on the House floor. The measure would need final approval from both chambers before moving to the governor's desk. The Legislature's deadline to adjourn sine die is Friday, May 31.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma House of Representatives today honored the right to life of the unborn with a presentation for Rose Day on the chamber floor and the adoption of a resolution recognizing the significance of the day. House Resolution 1022, authored by House Majority Leader Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, and co-authored by a majority of House Republicans, recognizes the significance of Rose Day, Oklahoma's annual pro-life rally at the Capitol. "Rose Day has a rich heritage in our state Legislature," West said. "Hundreds of people that value life, beginning at conception, gather to pass out roses to state representatives and other elected officials to remind us of the importance of protecting the unborn. It's a beautiful tradition and a reminder of one of the gifts we hold most sacred." HR1022 states that "one of the great hallmarks of our American form of government is the right of our citizens to express their opinions on matters of great import to their elected officials," and that "members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives greatly esteem and respect this right of the citizens to give their considered input and insight to elected members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, who are solemnly charged with crafting legislation for the people as a whole." The measure goes onto state that "the right to life of the unborn is one of the great public policy issues of our day, both for the American people and for Oklahomans of whatever political philosophy or persuasion," and that "members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives affirm that all human life is sacred from the point of conception." HR1022 also makes note that the majority of members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives have led the nation in adopting legislation to defend unborn children and will continue to do so. They also have opposed any policy that would require citizens to pay for abortions through their taxpayer dollars or medical insurance premiums.  The resolution reads, "on Rose Day 2024, hundreds of our fellow Oklahomans will take time out of their busy lives to come to their State Capitol to make a public statement respecting the sanctity of human life and the worth of every unborn individual and to speak with their elected officials," and "members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives greatly appreciate the heartfelt involvement of these committed Oklahoma citizens, both young and old, male and female." This year, abortion survivor Josiah Presley shared his story on the House floor. Presley currently serves as the student minister for North Pointe Baptist Church in Edmond and is married to Bethany and father to the couple's daughter, Julia. 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont, has filed legislation that would penalize with a felony anyone who distributes or possesses with the intent to distribute abortion-inducing drugs when the intent is to cause an abortion.  House Bill 3013 would result in a felony upon conviction for any person who knows or has reason to know that another person intends to use an abortion-inducing drug to cause an unlawful abortion and who knowingly or intentionally delivers an abortion-inducing drug to that person; possesses an abortion-inducing drug with the intent to deliver the drug to that person or offers or advertises the drug for sale or delivers to that person; or who commits trafficking of the drug. The penalty is consistent with the current penalty for performing an illegal abortion in an effort to create constancy. The act does not apply to a pharmacist or manufacturer or distributor of surgical supplies who lawfully manufactures, possesses, offers, sells, or distributes, in the usual course of that entity's business or profession, any drug, medicine or instrument intended for any lawful medical purpose. Under state law, abortions can only be performed to preserve the life of the mother in a medical emergency.  "Abortion-inducing drugs pose great physical and mental threat to women who use them for this purpose" Crosswhite Hader said. "I'm concerned that a woman given these drugs to take in isolation could die by herself, and they could keep her from being able to carry to term a pregnancy at a later date should that be desired." Under the provisions of the act, a person convicted of trafficking or attempting to traffic abortion-inducing drugs shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed $100,000 or by imprisonment for a term not to exceed 10 years or by both.  Crosswhite Hader said her goal is to protect women's health by stopping the trafficking or sharing of abortion-inducing drugs. She said there are numerous reports of women being given these drugs by non-medical professionals who do not understand what the medications can do to a woman if administered incorrectly. The drugs are often taken in isolation. This leaves the woman to go through cramping and bleeding and the shedding of her pregnancy with no medical expert on hand to help her through not only the physical pain and after-effects of the drugs, but also the mental anguish that can result from seeing her pre-term pregnancy in a non-viable state.  She said just like legislators enacted punishments for adults who give alcohol to minors, penalties are attached in this act to hopefully give people who would distribute these drugs pause. Crosswhite Hader said even more alarming are reports that only the second drug in a two-drug sequence are being given in some instances. The first drug is intended to stop the growth of the pregnancy. The second is to evacuate. To give the second drug without the first presents a greater danger to the woman, she said. If signed into law, the act would become effective Nov. 1. The bill will be eligible for consideration during the upcoming legislative session, which starts Feb. 5.