Oklahoma's public bathrooms will soon be forced to post anti-abortion signs
It used to be that the only sign you would see in a public bathroom was a gentle, laminated reminder to perform the most basic of tasks — wash your hands.
On Tuesday, however, the Oklahoma State Board of Health approved regulations that would require the state's hospitals, restaurants and public schools to post anti-choice information in their bathrooms. Oklahoma won't be funding the effort, so businesses in the state will have to pay for the signs themselves, at an estimated cost of $2.3 million.
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The regulations are scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018. Earlier this year, the legislature passed a law requiring that the state develop informational pamphlets and content "for the purpose of achieving an abortion-free society."
Some restaurants and hospitals, forced to foot the cost themselves, have largely resisted the unfunded program.
"It's just another mandate on small businesses. It's not just restaurants. It includes hospitals, nursing homes. It just doesn't make sense," Jim Hooper, president of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, told The Associated Press.
Image: sue ogrocki/AP
The sign must include the following language, including a link to the Oklahoma State Department's website:
“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.”
The bill also requires the Department of Education to introduce materials to the classroom for "the purpose of achieving an abortion-free society" that "include no component of human sexuality education other than those included in science education standards."
Even nursing homes will be asked to post these materials, which is strange to some, since the majority of that population is not exactly fertile.
