--- description: Find out why Oklahoma lawmakers are pushing a bill that would require women to get consent from a fetus' father before an abortion. title: Oklahoma Abortion Bill Would Require Written Consent From the Father image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb98005c1a5b485db/6988b9687cdbac0364d57139/oklahoma-state-house.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Oklahoma Abortion Bill Would Require Written Consent From the Father  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 8, 2017 10:10 PM CUT  War Memorial Monument with State Capitol in the background, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. War Memorial Monument with State Capitol in the background, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.Independent Picture Service/UIG/Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 8, 2017 10:10 PM CUT A proposed bill in Oklahoma would require women to get written consent from a fetus’ father before getting [an abortion](http://motto.time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), [Jezebel reports](http://theslot.jezebel.com/unconstitutional-oklahoma-bill-forces-women-to-seek-per-1792062157 "undefined"). The [legislation](http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf%5Fpdf/2017-18%20INT/hB/HB1441%20INT.PDF "undefined"), sponsored by Republican [Rep. Justin Humphrey](http://www.okhouse.gov/District.aspx?District=19 "undefined") and introduced into the Oklahoma State Legislature [last week](https://legiscan.com/OK/bill/HB1441/2017 "undefined"), would require “a pregnant woman seeking to abort her pregnancy shall be required to provide, in writing, the identity of the father of the fetus to the physician who is to perform or induce the abortion.” The bill adds that the father is allowed to challenge the paternity. The bill does include exceptions for cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger or cases where the father of the fetus has died. Similar bills have been struck down by the nation’s high court in the past. In _Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth_ (1976), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that requiring a women to obtain [spousal consent](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/428/52 "undefined") before getting an abortion was unconstitutional. In _Planned Parenthood v. Casey_ (1992), the U.S. Supreme Court [struck down](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/planned%5Fparenthood%5Fof%5Fsoutheastern%5Fpennsylvania%5Fv.%5Fcasey%5F1992 "undefined") a part of a Pennsylvania law that would require women to notify their husbands before getting the procedure. “In no other area of law are competent adults required to seek permission from others in order to receive their medical care,” a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Plains told Jezebel. “We’re seeing this because the vocal minority and the extremist lawmakers continue to attempt to shame and stigmatize patients who are exercising their constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion.” \[[Jezebel](http://theslot.jezebel.com/unconstitutional-oklahoma-bill-forces-women-to-seek-per-1792062157 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4664160/oklahoma-abortion-written-consent/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4664160/oklahoma-abortion-written-consent/"},"headline":"Oklahoma Abortion Bill Would Require Written Consent From the Father","datePublished":"2017-02-08T22:10:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:43.998Z","description":"Similar laws have been struck down before","url":"https://time.com/4664160/oklahoma-abortion-written-consent/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb98005c1a5b485db/6988b9687cdbac0364d57139/oklahoma-state-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb98005c1a5b485db/6988b9687cdbac0364d57139/oklahoma-state-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"War Memorial Monument with State Capitol in the background","caption":"War Memorial Monument with State Capitol in the background","creditText":"Independent Picture Service/UIG/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4664160/oklahoma-abortion-written-consent/","name":"Oklahoma Abortion Bill Would Require Written Consent From the Father"}}]}] ```