Health leaders address law on abortion signs in restrooms
Oklahomans are familiar with signs in public restrooms reminding employees they must wash their hands before returning to work.
Coming in 2018, residents will start to see a new sign — one that attempts to persuade women not to get abortions.
As part of House 2797, signed into law during this year’s legislative session, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and any other facility licensed by the state Health Department will be required to hang signs in their public restrooms that read:
“There are many public and private agencies willing and able to help you carry your child to term and assist you and your child after your child is born, whether you choose to keep your child or to place him or her for adoption. The State of Oklahoma strongly urges you to contact them if you are pregnant.”
On Tuesday, the state Board of Health voted 8-1 to approve rules the agency must write regarding House Bill 2797, outlining how the house bill should be implemented.
Board member Tim Starkey, executive director of Great Salt Plains Health Center in Cherokee, was the only board member to vote against the rules, citing concerns over how much it will cost health care facilities to create the signage.
The provision for the signs was tucked into a law that the Legislature passed this year that requires the state to develop informational material “for the purpose of achieving an abortion-free society.”
Don Maisch, an attorney at the health department, said the Legislature and governor must ratify the board’s signage rules before they go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
The Legislature didn’t allocate any funding for House Bill 2797, meaning businesses and health care facilities will bear the brunt of the cost.
The Oklahoma Hospital Association estimated that the cost of making the signs would range from $45 to $150 per sign, depending on the style and frame of the sign.
“Also be aware that due to the stringent cleanliness requirements that a sign must be able to be disinfected regularly in restrooms in medical facilities,” the association noted in its public comment to the health department.
The association estimated that at $80 per sign, the new law would cost Integris Health $60,000 to implement systemwide. Meanwhile, it would cost a small rural hospital $750.
Meanwhile, leaders at the Oklahoma Assisted Living Association wrote in their public comments that posting this type of signage at this facilities seemed unnecessary, given the population.
“This rule could have a negative emotional impact on our residents,” the association’s comment reads. “I understand the purpose of House Bill 2797 is to educate those of childbearing age of option to terminating a pregnancy. However, our residents are obviously older and not of childbearing age. Is it necessary to inform them of options which are not applicable?”
There is no penalty for businesses or facilities that don’t comply.
Sen. A.J. Griffin, R-Guthrie, one of the bill’s authors, said that was intentional, noting that she intended for the law to be voluntary.
No business will lose its license for not complying, she said.
“If that is not clear in the language, and the way it is being interpreted by the state Health Department, we need to clarify for that,” Griffin said.
Griffin said she wanted the bill to help raise awareness about prenatal care and other services available to pregnant women.
And because thousands of people are in and out of public restrooms every day, the location made sense, she said.
“Prenatal health care can make all the difference and it is available to those who can’t access it on their own, but many women don’t know where to go,” Griffin said in a written statement. “And while our abortion rate is actually relatively low, each year there are still thousands of unborn children whose lives are ended through abortion. I believe many of those women felt like they had no alternative, but they’ll be haunted by the pain and guilt of that decision for the rest of their lives.”