Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice v. O’Connor (Oklahoma)

On July 1, 2022, the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners filed a lawsuit in the Oklahoma Supreme Court seeking to block the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban, enacted in 1910, and a total abortion ban slated to take effect in August. The lawsuit asserts that the criminal abortion bans violate the Oklahoma state constitution which protects inalienable rights and substantive due process. 

Oklahoma passed its first criminal abortion ban (Section 861) in 1910, more than 60 years before the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. The pre-Roe criminal ban made performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, unless necessary to preserve the pregnant person’s life. The criminal ban was revived by Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor on June 24, the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. 

The second criminal ban (S.B. 612) was enacted in April 2022, in anticipation of that ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The trigger ban prohibits all abortion care except in narrowly defined medical emergencies and makes abortion a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $100,000 fine. (The Center first challenged the trigger ban on April 28 in Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice et al. v. O’Connor, et al.)  

The new lawsuit, filed July 1, asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to strike down the criminal abortion bans, arguing that both bans both violate the Oklahoma Constitution, which protects inalienable rights and substantive due process, independent of federal law.  

Oklahoma is enforcing its abortion bans, and abortion is currently illegal in the state.  

Center Attorneys: Rabia Muqaddam and Caroline Sacerdote 

Co-Counsel/Cooperating Attorneys: Dechert LLP and Planned Parenthood Federation of America 

Plaintiffs: Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, Tulsa Women’s Reproductive Clinic, Dr. Alan Braid, Planned Parenthood Great Plains, and Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma.

June 24, 2022	The U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and takes away the constitutional right to abortion. Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor revives Section 861, which makes providing abortion care a criminal felony.
July 01, 2022	The Center and its partners file a lawsuit in Oklahoma Supreme Court challenging the pre-Roe criminal ban (Section 861) and the trigger ban (S.B. 612), arguing that both bans violate the Oklahoma Constitution.

• Complaint in Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice v. O’Connor, 7.1.22

• Press Release: Oklahoma Total Abortion Bans Challenged in Court, 7.1.22