House Votes to Increase Regulations on Abortion Providers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: State Rep. Mike Ritze
Capitol: (405) 557-7338
 
House Votes to Increase Regulation of Abortionists
 
OKLAHOMA CITY – House lawmakers voted today to increase regulatory oversight of abortion providers and increase safeguards for women.
“I am strongly pro-life, but also believe we should not ignore the potential medical risks faced by women who undergo abortions,” said state Rep. Mike Ritze, a Board Certified Family Practice Physician and Surgeon who has delivered over 2,000 babies. “This legislation would increase regulatory protection provided women and ensure disreputable abortionists are not able to escape oversight.”
            House Bill 1642, by Ritze, would require any abortion provider to have “clinical privileges at a hospital which offers obstetrical or gynecological care” that is located within 30 miles of the site where abortion is performed or induced.
            “The people once derided as ‘back-alley butchers’ were allowed to simply hang a shingle on their front door and continue doing business as usual after Roe v. Wade,” said Ritze, R-Broken Arrow. “That is why the law must provide greater regulation of abortion clinics.”
            House Bill 1642 passed on a bipartisan vote of 89-7 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives today. It now goes to the state Senate.