A bill banning gender-affirming care for minors is nearing the finish line. The measure criminalizes care.
Senate Bill 613 mirrors the state’s abortion bans, in that it makes performing the service a felony, threatening medical providers with up to a decade in prison and $100,000 in fines. It also mirrors the abortion ban that allows private citizens to file lawsuits for damages against doctors in civil court. It also adds providing gender-affirming services to children as a cause for medical and nursing license revocations.
The bill bans surgeries, which medical providers generally recommend only for adults, as well as less intense and non-permanent treatments such as puberty blockers.
The bill passed off the House floor Wednesday night along party lines.
There is a House bill that bans the care for minors, as well as all public funding and insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for Oklahomans of any age. It didn’t get a hearing in the Senate.
The bill is headed back to the Senate for another vote before it can go to the governor’s desk.
Despite an unprecedented amount of support from state officials, a split vote from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board led to no recommendation for clemency for death row inmate Richard Glossip.
Glossip was found guilty of the 1997 murder-for-hire of motel owner Barry Van Treese.
Prior to the clemency hearing, several state lawmakers pushed for an independent investigation of Glossip’s case.
That investigation found several problems with the trial, including the state’s destruction of material evidence and false testimony from the key witness.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond also spoke to the board.
“I’m not aware of any time in our history that an attorney general has appeared before this board and argued for clemency. I’m also not aware of any time in the history of Oklahoma when justice would require it,” Drummond said.
The Pardon and Parole Board is meant to have five members, but the fifth member, Richard Smothermon, recused himself from this vote. His wife was a prosecutor in Glossip’s 2004 retrial.
Glossip is scheduled to be executed on May 18th.
Oklahoma House Republicans bypassed standard legislative procedure to advance Gov. Kevin Stitt’s education plan. The last-minute change ties teacher raises to tax credits for private and home school families.
Senate Bill 561 was all about updating a state assistance program for needy families.
But House Speaker Charles McCall changed it on the chamber’s floor – amending the bill to get rid of all its original contents and replace them with an incentive to pass the governor’s education plan.
McCall’s amended bill says teachers won’t see pay increases unless two other education measures pass. House Bill 1935 sets up a voucher-like tax credit program for private and home school students, and Senate Bill 2775 sets aside hundreds of millions dollars for public education.
After about an hour of debate, McCall’s new bill passed the House.
All three now head to the Senate.
The USDA is offering producers $75 million to help transition their farms to become certified organic operations.
Demand for organic produce and meat has been on the rise in Oklahoma. From 2016 through 2019 organic product sales doubled.
But as of 2021, there were only six certified organic operations in the state.
The USDA is hoping to change that by assisting producers – here and across the country – through the Organic Transition Initiative.
From managing land without using prohibited pesticides, to logistical challenges, farmers face a multitude of struggles during the first few years of certification. The National Resources Conservation Service will dedicate financial and technical assistance to help.
Farmers, ranchers, and other producers beginning or in the process of transitioning to organic certification are eligible to apply.
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