By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — House lawmakers on Wednesday advanced various bills that attempt to control how taxpayer funds can be spent on health care-related services.
The most controversial of the measures, which passed 5-1, would prohibit the adults from using Medicaid funds to pay for gender-affirming care.
Senate Bill 904, authored by Rep. Erick Harris, R-Edmond, prohibits all public funds from being distributed to any entity, organization or individual to pay for gender transition procedures. It also bars any state property, facility or building from being used to provide gender transition procedures.
Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, said she thinks the legislation is harmful to Oklahoma youth and adults and could negatively affect patients trying to use private funds at facilities that receive public dollars.
“What we had previously passed only dealt with minors,” she said. “Now we’re getting in the business of telling adults, in private conversations with health care providers, what they can and can’t do with their body.”
State law already bans minors from receiving gender-affirming care treatment, which includes puberty blockers, surgical procedures and hormone therapy. Harris said this bill closes a loophole in existing Oklahoma law.
“The Legislature had made it perfectly clear what they wanted public funds to be used for,” Harris said. “… This is just a continuation of public policy that the Legislature has adopted and voters have resoundingly supported by electing us.”
The House had previously considered a similar measure, but it was amended to eliminatelanguage affecting adults before it advanced to the Senate.
The public health committee also approved a measure to allow Oklahoma’s Choosing Childbirth program to offer grants to out-of-state nonprofits that refer people searching for abortion resources to Oklahoma pregnancy resource centers.
Under the existing program, the state Department of Health gives millions in grants to Oklahoma nonprofits that provide education and a variety of services to women who keep their babies or place them up for adoption as an alternative to abortion.
Senate Bill 1503 would allow out-of-state nonprofits to receive funding for identifying women who are online seeking abortion access or abortion pills and present them with advertisements for Oklahoma’s pregnancy resource centers, said bill author Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore.
“Our existing pregnancy resource centers, as I understand it, are somewhat dependent on walk-in traffic,” Lepak said. “… Somebody who’s looking to get an abortion or have the pills mailed to them, that kind of thing gets identified and directs them to our existing service.”
Pogemiller, the only Democrat on the committee, said she had privacy concerns.
“I guess one concern I have is what kind of private information is being taken from women who were just legitimately trying to understand what their options are,” she said.
Lepak said private information won’t be collected, but when women are searching for resources regarding pregnancy and abortion they would be shown ads for pregnancy resource centers in Oklahoma.
He said he doesn’t know if any of Oklahoma’s existing providers can offer this service.
Lawmakers have said Human Coalition, a Texas-based anti-abortion nonprofit, is an example of an out-of-state provider that would be able to receive Choosing Childbirth funding under this measure.
Some committee members raised concerns that Oklahoma tax dollars could end up paying the salaries of out-of-state nonprofits and there’s a potential lack of accountability and reporting from these nonprofits.
While many states have allocated taxpayer dollars to pregnancy resource centers, there has been a lack of oversight and accountability for how these funds are spent.
The Legislature and governor approved a supplemental $2 million appropriation to the Choosing Childbirth program at the beginning of session. Democratic lawmakers criticizedthe extra funding because they said there hasn’t been enough accountability of how state funds have been spent.
The measure advanced 5-2.
The committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 1572 which would conduct a feasibility study on consolidating some of the administrative duties, programs and finances of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services with the State Department of Health.
Commissioner of Health Keith Reed would conduct the study and provide a report by March 1. The measure also allows Reed to be the acting or interim Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for the purpose of conducting the feasibility study.
Rep. Preston Stinson, R-Edmond, said this measure will help to bridge the gap when Interim Commissioner Gregory Slavonic steps down from leading the mental health department at the end of the legislative session.
State health officials last month called on lawmakers to move some of the mental health department’s services and responsibilities to other agencies, like the Health Care Authority and the state Health Department.
All three measures must be approved by an oversight committee before heading to the full House floor.
