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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, April 24, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill on Tuesday to tighten restrictions on the use of the abortion-inducing drug cocktail RU-486 by requiring abortionists to follow FDA guidelines when prescribing it.

While FDA guidelines recommend the use of abortion drugs only during the first 49 days of pregnancy, abortionists currently use the drugs for 2 weeks later than that because they claim it is less invasive than surgical abortion.  Abortionists also typically use only one-third of the recommended dose of the costly baby-killing drug mifepristone as a cost-cutting measure while doubling up on the cheaper half of the drug cocktail, misoprostol, which expels the body.  The new law will prohibit both practices, requiring abortionists to follow FDA guidelines for both timing and dosage.

The new law is similar to a bill passed and signed by Gov. Fallin in 2011, which included the same restrictions on usage of abortion drugs, but also included a provision requiring that abortionists give a woman a health exam before dispensing RU-486 to assess how far along she is into pregnancy, and to screen for health problems which could lead to life-threatening complications.  After abortionists complained that that provision of the law would effectively ban telemed abortions, which enable rural women to get abortion drugs without making the long drive to an abortion facility, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the bill unconstitutional.

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At the time, Susan B. Anthony List Communications Director Mallory Quigley told LifeSiteNews that despite the women dying “at the hands of unscrupulous abortion business, the abortion lobby continues to fight regulation nationwide – even common sense laws like Oklahoma’s requirement that abortionists follow FDA-advised uses for dangerous drugs.”

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Gov. Fallin, a Republican, has given new vigor to the pro-life movement in Oklahoma, in contrast to her predecessor, Democrat Brad Henry, who vetoed eight major pro-life bills during his tenure.  Although the strongly pro-life state legislature was able to override all but one of Henry’s veto attempts, having a pro-life governor in office has removed a time-consuming obstacle to passage of laws aimed at saving babies’ lives.

Since Fallin’s inauguration, she has signed multiple pro-life bills, including the new abortion drug law and its predecessor, a 20-week abortion ban, and a bill prohibiting health plans sold in Oklahoma from covering elective abortions.  Many of the bills have been challenged in court, but Fallin hasn’t been deterred by the expense of defending the laws. “I stand behind our Legislature,” she said upon signing the 20-week ban. “If it gets challenged, so be it.”

LifeSiteNews reached out to Oklahomans for Life for comment on the newly-signed abortion drug restrictions, which take effect November 1.  However, the group declined to comment, stating that they had no involvement with the passage of the revised bill.