NOTE: This section is conditionally repealed upon certification by the Attorney General that either of the conditions set forth in Laws 2021, c. 308, § 18 have been met. (See end of section for those conditions.)
The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma finds that:
1. Pain receptors (nociceptors) are present throughout the unborn child's entire body by no later than sixteen (16) weeks after fertilization and nerves link these receptors to the brain's thalamus and subcortical plate by no later than twenty (20) weeks;
2. By eight (8) weeks after fertilization, the unborn child reacts to touch. After twenty (20) weeks, the unborn child reacts to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an adult human, for example by recoiling;
3. In the unborn child, application of such painful stimuli is associated with significant increases in stress hormones known as the stress response;
4. Subjection to such painful stimuli is associated with long-term harmful neurodevelopmental effects, such as altered pain sensitivity and, possibly, emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities later in life;
5. For the purposes of surgery on unborn children, fetal anesthesia is routinely administered and is associated with a decrease in stress hormones compared to their level when painful stimuli are applied without such anesthesia;
6. The position, asserted by some medical experts, that the unborn child is incapable of experiencing pain until a point later in pregnancy than twenty (20) weeks after fertilization predominately rests on the assumption that the ability to experience pain depends on the cerebral cortex and requires nerve connections between the thalamus and the cortex. However, recent medical research and analysis, especially since 2007, provides strong evidence for the conclusion that a functioning cortex is not necessary to experience pain;
7. Substantial evidence indicates that children born missing the bulk of the cerebral cortex, those with hydranencephaly, nevertheless experience pain;
8. In adults, stimulation or ablation of the cerebral cortex does not alter pain perception, while stimulation or ablation of the thalamus does;
9. Substantial evidence indicates that structures used for pain processing in early development differ from those of adults, using different neural elements available at specific times during development, such as the subcortical plate, to fulfill the role of pain processing;
10. The position, asserted by some, that the unborn child remains in a coma-like sleep state that precludes the unborn child from experiencing pain is inconsistent with the documented reaction of unborn children to painful stimuli and with the experience of fetal surgeons who have found it necessary to sedate the unborn child with anesthesia to prevent the unborn child from thrashing about in reaction to invasive surgery;
11. Consequently, there is substantial medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain by twenty (20) weeks after fertilization;
12. It is the purpose of the State of Oklahoma to assert a compelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain; and
13. Oklahoma's compelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain is intended to be separate from and independent of Oklahoma's compelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage of viability, and neither state interest is intended to replace the other.
Added by Laws 2011, c. 89, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2011.
NOTE: Section 18 of Laws 2021, c. 308 provides: