{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-63-63-1-745.44","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 63-1-745.44","heading":"Legislative intent - Severability","body":"A. Mindful of Leavitt v. Jane L., 518 U.S. 137 (1996), in which\n\nin the context of determining the severability of a state statute\n\nregulating abortion the Supreme Court of the United States held that\n\nan explicit statement of legislative intent is controlling, it is\n\nthe intent of the Legislature that every provision, section,\n\nsubsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word in this act, and every\n\napplication of the provisions in this act to every person, group of\n\npersons, or circumstances, are severable from each other.\n\nB. If any application of any provision in this act to any\n\nperson, group of persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be\n\ninvalid, preempted, unconstitutional, or to impose an undue burden\n\non any woman or group of women seeking an abortion, then the\n\nremaining applications of that provision to all other persons and\n\ncircumstances shall be severed and preserved, and shall remain in\n\neffect. All constitutionally valid applications of the provisions\n\nin this act, and every application of those provisions that can be\n\nenforced without imposing an undue burden on women seeking\n\nabortions, shall be severed from any applications that a court finds\n\nto be invalid, preempted, unconstitutional, or to impose an undue\n\nburden on women seeking abortions, and the valid applications shall\n\nremain in force, because it is the Legislature's intent and priority\n\nthat every valid application be allowed to stand alone. Even if a\n\nreviewing court finds a provision of this act to impose an undue\n\nburden in a large or substantial fraction of relevant cases, the\n\napplications that do not present an undue burden shall be severed\n\nfrom the remaining applications and shall remain in force, and shall\n\nbe treated as if the Legislature had enacted a statute limited to\n\nthe persons, group of persons, or circumstances for which the\n\nstatute's application does not impose an undue burden.\n\nC. The Legislature further declares that it would have enacted\n\nthis act, and each provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause,\n\nphrase, or word, and all constitutional applications of the\n\nprovisions of this act, irrespective of the fact that any provision,\n\nsection, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word, or\n\napplications of this act were to be declared invalid, preempted,\n\nunconstitutional, or to impose an undue burden.\n\nD. If any provision of this act is found by any court to be\n\nunconstitutionally vague, then the applications of that provision\n\nthat do not present constitutional vagueness problems shall be\n\nsevered and remain in force, consistent with the severability\n\nrequirements of subsections A, B, and C of this section.\n\nE. No court may decline to enforce the severability\n\nrequirements of subsections A, B, C, and D of this section on the\n\nground that severance would \"rewrite\" the statute or involve the\n\ncourt in legislative or lawmaking activity. A court that declines\n\nto enforce or enjoins a state official from enforcing a statutory\n\nprovision does not rewrite a statute, as the statute continues to\n\ncontain the same words as before the court's decision. A judicial\n\ninjunction or declaration of unconstitutionality:\n\n1. Is nothing more than an edict prohibiting enforcement that\n\nmay subsequently be vacated by a later court if that court has a\n\ndifferent understanding of the requirements of the Oklahoma\n\nConstitution or United States Constitution;\n\n2. Is not a formal amendment of the language in a statute; and\n\n3. No more rewrites a statute than a decision by the executive\n\nnot to enforce a duly enacted statute in a limited and defined set\n\nof circumstances.\n\nF. If any state or federal court disregards the severability\n\nrequirements of subsections A, B, C, D, and E of this section, and\n\ndeclares or finds any provision of this act facially\n\nunconstitutional, when there are discrete applications of that\nd\n\n3. No more rewrites a statute than a decision by the executive\n\nnot to enforce a duly enacted statute in a limited and defined set\n\nof circumstances.\n\nF. If any state or federal court disregards the severability\n\nrequirements of subsections A, B, C, D, and E of this section, and\n\ndeclares or finds any provision of this act facially\n\nunconstitutional, when there are discrete applications of that\n\nprovision that can be enforced against a person, group of persons,\n\nor circumstances without violating federal law, the federal or state\n\nconstitutions, or imposing an undue burden on women seeking\n\nabortions, then that provision shall be interpreted, as a matter of\n\nstate law, as if the Legislature had enacted a provision limited to\n\nthe persons, group of persons, or circumstances for which the\n\nprovision's application will not violate federal law, the federal or\n\nstate constitutions, or impose an undue burden on women seeking\n\nabortions, and every court shall adopt this saving construction of\n\nthat provision until the court ruling that pronounced the provision\n\nfacially unconstitutional is vacated or overruled.","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":"cff66b0fcbfd936393b96bb60b5b7e0080fba5caf4f03f7b2fbd6dcd6428b86e","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-63-63-1-745.43","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-63-63-1-745.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}