{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-63-63-1-745.3","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 63-1-745.3","heading":"Legislative findings","body":"The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma finds that:\n\n1. Pain receptors (nociceptors) are present throughout the\n\nunborn child's entire body by no later than sixteen (16) weeks after\n\nfertilization and nerves link these receptors to the brain's\n\nthalamus and subcortical plate by no later than twenty (20) weeks;\n\n2. By eight (8) weeks after fertilization, the unborn child\n\nreacts to touch. After twenty (20) weeks, the unborn child reacts\n\nto stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an\n\nadult human, for example by recoiling;\n\n3. In the unborn child, application of such painful stimuli is\n\nassociated with significant increases in stress hormones known as\n\nthe stress response;\n\n4. Subjection to such painful stimuli is associated with long-\n\nterm harmful neurodevelopmental effects, such as altered pain\n\nsensitivity and, possibly, emotional, behavioral, and learning\n\ndisabilities later in life;\n\n5. For the purposes of surgery on unborn children, fetal\n\nanesthesia is routinely administered and is associated with a\n\ndecrease in stress hormones compared to their level when painful\n\nstimuli are applied without such anesthesia;\n\n6. The position, asserted by some medical experts, that the\n\nunborn child is incapable of experiencing pain until a point later\n\nin pregnancy than twenty (20) weeks after fertilization\n\npredominately rests on the assumption that the ability to experience\n\npain depends on the cerebral cortex and requires nerve connections\n\nbetween the thalamus and the cortex. However, recent medical\n\nresearch and analysis, especially since 2007, provides strong\n\nevidence for the conclusion that a functioning cortex is not\n\nnecessary to experience pain;\n\n7. Substantial evidence indicates that children born missing\n\nthe bulk of the cerebral cortex, those with hydranencephaly,\n\nnevertheless experience pain;\n\n8. In adults, stimulation or ablation of the cerebral cortex\n\ndoes not alter pain perception, while stimulation or ablation of the\n\nthalamus does;\n\n9. Substantial evidence indicates that structures used for pain\n\nprocessing in early development differ from those of adults, using\n\ndifferent neural elements available at specific times during\n\ndevelopment, such as the subcortical plate, to fulfill the role of\n\npain processing;\n\n10. The position, asserted by some, that the unborn child\n\nremains in a coma-like sleep state that precludes the unborn child\n\nfrom experiencing pain is inconsistent with the documented reaction\n\nof unborn children to painful stimuli and with the experience of\n\nfetal surgeons who have found it necessary to sedate the unborn\n\nchild with anesthesia to prevent the unborn child from thrashing\n\nabout in reaction to invasive surgery;\n\n11. Consequently, there is substantial medical evidence that an\n\nunborn child is capable of experiencing pain by twenty (20) weeks\n\nafter fertilization;\n\n12. It is the purpose of the State of Oklahoma to assert a\n\ncompelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children\n\nfrom the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that\n\nthey are capable of feeling pain; and\n\n13. Oklahoma's compelling state interest in protecting the\n\nlives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical\n\nevidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain is intended\n\nto be separate from and independent of Oklahoma's compelling state\n\ninterest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage\n\nof viability, and neither state interest is intended to replace the\n\nother.","path":["OK Code","Title 63"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os63.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"76667df58b2b896efcc7403a0f6fb2a9229c3b7b28b1a5c9d0000891b245e9e3","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-63-63-1-745.2","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-63-63-1-745.31"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}