The state is suing over the federal government’s decision to revoke family planning funding and says a Missouri group could face criminal charges if it helps women in Oklahoma get abortions.
The federal government is sending funding for family planning services in Oklahoma to an out-of state group after the State Department of Health refused to provide patients with information about abortion.
Oklahoma hospitals discharge a growing number of patients to homelessness. But experts say the bar is high to prove hospitals are violating federal law.
The Tulsa County Sheriff has ordered a state treatment program out of the jail. County officials say participants should be in a state hospital instead.
Advocates in Western Oklahoma say they are combatting a lack of funding and awareness in their communities. There are few shelters and a reluctance to address housing problems.
A more than 100-year-old law now propping up the state’s sweeping abortion ban contains no clear definition of what it means to preserve the life of a mother.
Oklahoma anti-abortion lawmakers are in a dilemma: Support legislation that could make it easier for some women to get abortions, or risk successful legal challenges and backlash from voters.
People experiencing homelessness must be able to do basic tasks like bathing or eating on their own to get a bed in the state’s only respite center. But many can’t, and the need is growing.
