Oklahoma Leaders Push to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Fatal Fetal Diagnosis Abortion Bans
State leaders in Oklahoma are asking a district court to throw out a lawsuit brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which challenges the state’s stringent abortion bans as they apply to pregnancies with fatal fetal diagnoses. Filed in September in the Oklahoma County District Court, the case features three mothers who were denied care in-state and forced to travel elsewhere for procedures after learning their pregnancies were nonviable.
KGOU reported that the defendants, including Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, argue the state Constitution does not confer a right to end a pregnancy following a fatal diagnosis unless the procedure is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant person. The underlying legal battle puts intense focus on the intersection of near-total abortion restrictions and catastrophic medical outcomes.
The Human Toll Behind the Court Challenge
For lead plaintiff Magon Hoffman, the reality of Oklahoma’s abortion laws unfolded in December 2022. As reported by The Oklahoma Eagle, Hoffman was 19 weeks pregnant when an anatomy scan revealed anencephaly, a serious birth defect where parts of the brain and skull fail to develop properly. The condition commonly leads to death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s anencephaly guidelines.
Advised by a specialist that the infant would never survive outside a hospital, Hoffman and her husband faced a stark choice: leave the state or continue the pregnancy to term. The couple ultimately drove over eight hours to New Mexico and spent approximately $3,000 out of pocket for travel, lodging, and the procedure. The lawsuit, which also includes plaintiffs Sheena Hamlin and Elizabeth Fitzgerald alongside two OB-GYNs and the Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, contends that such bans violate rights to life, liberty, substantive due process, and equal protection.
Being forced to continue a pregnancy in these circumstances inflicts tremendous suffering on the pregnant patient and her family.
notes the Center for Reproductive Rights filing, emphasizing that absent their departure from the state, the plaintiffs would have been forced to carry their pregnancies forward, facing health and life hazards just to deliver infants unlikely to survive birth or ever exit a hospital facility.
Legal Arguments and the Question of Public Policy
In their motion to dismiss, state defendants acknowledged that the accounts provided by the plaintiffs are painful by any measure. However, they maintained that the motion does not take a position on whether Oklahoma law should permit abortion following a fatal fetal diagnosis.
That is a question of public policy,
the motion reads. This matter falls to the people and the Legislature as outlined in the Oklahoma Constitution, and they can address it through a referendum, a statute, or an initiative.
Defendants also point to a March 2023 ruling where the Oklahoma Supreme Court recognized a right to life-preserving abortions when a physician determines continuation of the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life. They argue that lower courts cannot reexamine issues already decided by the state’s highest court, and that the plaintiffs’ claims fall outside that specific life-preservation exception. Furthermore, state attorneys argue the plaintiffs lack standing because they allege past injuries rather than imminent enforcement actions against them or the physician plaintiffs.
As the litigation proceeds in the Oklahoma County District Court, the fundamental question of whether the state constitution protects access to care during nonviable pregnancies remains open.
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