The state’s supreme court ruled last month Oklahomans have a right to life-saving abortions, whether it’s an emergency or not. A new study finds hospitals are still unclear on where the legal line is.
Physicians for Human Rights partnered with the Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice and organized the study. Researchers posed as prospective patients and spoke with representatives at 34 of the 37 Oklahoma hospitals that offer obstetric care, asking about what would happen if their health suddenly took a turn for the worst, and they needed an abortion.
"Overall, hospital staff could not clearly articulate their hospitals’ emergency policies," said Dr. Michelle Heisler, one of the study's lead authors.
She says 22 of the 34 hospitals weren’t able to give the callers any information about procedures, policies, or support provided to doctors when an abortion becomes medically necessary. And only two hospitals described providing legal support for doctors in that situation. This is important, in part, because malpractice insurance doesn’t apply to criminal proceedings, and performing an unnecessary abortion is a felony.
Oklahoma’s certified teachers are required to take a lot of professional development courses, and they have to do it frequently. But amid the state’s teacher shortage crisis, a big change to those requirements was just signed into law.
House Bill 1441 is authored by Tulsa Democrat and former educator, Rep. Melissa Provenzano. Lawmakers are working through a slate of bills this session to make teaching more attractive and sustainable amid the state’s massive shortage, and this one cuts down some professional development requirements.
First, it caps the requirement for professional development at 150 hours per every 5 years. Second, courses that have been required annually now just need to be taken once during a teacher’s first year, then every five years after that. And, as Provenzano points out:
"There’s nothing in this bill that prohibits a district from offering these trainings on a more frequent basis if they need."
In a press release, Provenzano says the bill will help to “balance the load” of everything teachers have on their plates. It was signed into law last week by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Shawnee High School will finish the year virtually following a direct hit from a tornado last week. The district is distributing internet hotspots and take-home devices for school work.
According to a report from The Oklahoman, school officials say the April 19 storms caused more than $20 million worth of damage across Shawnee Public Schools. Extensive damage to the high school’s football stadium and performing arts center will force next month’s graduation ceremony to be held at another location.
Shawnee’s elementary schools sustained less damage and are expected to resume in-person classes Thursday. The middle school could potentially reopen by next week.
A former Guthrie city councilman was found guilty of first-degree murder.
After claiming self-defense, Dan Triplett was found guilty Tuesday of fatally shooting and burying the body of his employee, Brent Mack, under a septic tank in 2021. After finding Mack’s body, a medical examiner determined he had been shot in the back.
Following the verdict, the Mack family’s attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, said the ruling sends an important message.
"This jury today let Dan Triplett know that Brent Mack’s life mattered. And hopefully every single day Dan Triplett and others in this country, in this county, in this state that believe they can do anything to others without repercussion understands that is not the law here," said Solomon-Simmons.
Triplett is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and an additional seven years for desecration of a human corpse. The sentencing hearing is set for June 16.
This week’s rain has made way for budding plants and budding questions about drought and flash flooding.
Longterm drought can harden dirt, making it less absorbent and more prone to flash flooding. That’s what happened in 2013, when central Oklahoma saw its wettest spring on record after years of harsh drought. But JJ Gourley, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says we’re getting the right kind of rain to avoid a flashback to those flash floods.
"This is really the way we want to receive the rainfall, is kind of steady gradually and over a long period of time," said Gourley.
Still, Gourley says cities might be a little more prone to flooding than places with lots of springtime greenery. Concrete surfaces just aren’t as good at absorbing rainfall as soil and plants.
Gourley says many areas will still need days and days of rain to break the drought. According to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor report, the entire northwestern part of the state is still in moderate to exceptional drought.
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