It shall be lawful for a physician, legally qualified to practice in the State of Oklahoma, to perform a post mortem caesarian section upon any female who is the victim of accidental death, who at the time of said death, is in the advanced stages of pregnancy and where said physician has reason to believe, following immediate and due examination, that said child is viable in the mother. In the performance of a caesarian section, under such circumstances, the physician and the institution or hospital where such operation is performed, shall not be liable, either civilly or criminally, though performed without the consent by those in whom the law has recognized a legal right of the possession of the body of the deceased, provided the operation be performed in good faith and with due skill and without unnecessary injury or mutilation. Provided, however, said operation shall not be performed over the protest of those in whom the law has recognized a legal right to the possession of the body of the said deceased.
Added by Laws 1943, p. 134, § 1.