Woodhull Cries Foul! At Slate of Alarming Bills Introduced in Oklahoma Seeking to Rollback Human Rights
February 4, 2025
Emboldened by President Trump’s election, Senator Dusty Deevers, an ultra-conservative abortion abolitionist, pastor, and Oklahoma State Senator, ignores the separation between church and state, Constitutional rights, and human rights in two slates of proposed bills. The first slate of eight bills promises to “restore the moral sanity” of his state.
These bills echo the conservative values and ideals drawn up in the highly controversial and discriminatory Project 2025 and read like excerpts from The Handmaid’s Tale. Some of what these bills would do include:
- SB456 – ban abortions in the state, including the use of mail-order abortion pills.
- SB593 – ban pornography in the state (that includes the production of, the participation in, and the possession of pornography!).
- SB550 – ban drag shows in the state.
- SB228 – create a state tax credit for cisgender heterosexual couples who opt into “covenant marriages.”
- SB829 – ban no-fault divorces in the state.
- SB281 – create a state tax credit for families seeking to adopt children.
- SB328 – create a state child tax credit for cisgender heterosexual couples who have a child and jointly file taxes; the credit increases if the couple has children after marriage.
In addition to the ban on pornography, which would allow penalties of up to 10 years for anyone found guilty of producing, distributing, or possessing pornography in Oklahoma, the slate of bills heavily focuses on defining family. The right to marry and to form a family is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is intrinsically linked to the right to sexual freedom. The United Nations has consistently refused to define “family,” recognizing the vast diversity of families today. And yet that is precisely what Deevers seeks – to narrowly define family according to his interpretation of Christian values, which includes only recognizing marriages between a man and a woman.
Woodhull President and CEO Ricci Joy Levy warned, “This particular slate of bills proposed by Oklahoma Senator Dusty Deevers (R) threatens our fundamental human rights and personal autonomy. These proposed laws are a direct assault on sexual freedom, bodily autonomy, and the right to privacy. By attempting to criminalize personal choices, restrict artistic expression, and impose narrow definitions of family and marriage, these bills fly in the face of everything we’ve fought for. The attack on abortion rights and the criminalization of pornography are particularly egregious violations of bodily autonomy and free expression. We cannot allow the government to dictate our most intimate decisions or censor our art and media. Furthermore, the promotion of a single type of family structure and the preferential treatment of religious insurance companies are clear violations of the separation of church and state.”
Deevers also proposed a slate of six bills called Make Oklahoma Healthy Again, which are modeled under the banner of “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA), a slogan and ethos popularized by RFK, Jr., who is currently being vetted for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). While some of the bills have the air of reasonableness, others reveal Senator Deevers’ true intentions to legally codify restrictions on freedom of expression and access to education. The Health Education Act, SB702, for instance, would infringe on children’s and teenager’s right to education by limiting sexual education curriculum and specifically harm LGBTQIA+ youth by banning topics related to gender and sexuality.
In sum, if enacted, these bills would violate people’s constitutional and human rights, including the right to expression, the right to marriage and to form a family, the right to health, the right to bodily autonomy, and even the right to life.
Levy continues, “Look to the states, not just the White House. Bills like these are being proposed in other states, perhaps counting on our distraction with what’s happening in DC. Don’t be distracted! We must stand united against these regressive measures and continue our fight for true sexual freedom and human rights for all.”