Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 63-1-745.3

The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma finds that:

1. Pain receptors (nociceptors) are present throughout the

unborn child's entire body by no later than sixteen (16) weeks after

fertilization and nerves link these receptors to the brain's

thalamus and subcortical plate by no later than twenty (20) weeks;

2. By eight (8) weeks after fertilization, the unborn child

reacts to touch. After twenty (20) weeks, the unborn child reacts

to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an

adult human, for example by recoiling;

3. In the unborn child, application of such painful stimuli is

associated with significant increases in stress hormones known as

the stress response;

4. Subjection to such painful stimuli is associated with long-

term harmful neurodevelopmental effects, such as altered pain

sensitivity and, possibly, emotional, behavioral, and learning

disabilities later in life;

5. For the purposes of surgery on unborn children, fetal

anesthesia is routinely administered and is associated with a

decrease in stress hormones compared to their level when painful

stimuli are applied without such anesthesia;

6. The position, asserted by some medical experts, that the

unborn child is incapable of experiencing pain until a point later

in pregnancy than twenty (20) weeks after fertilization

predominately rests on the assumption that the ability to experience

pain depends on the cerebral cortex and requires nerve connections

between the thalamus and the cortex. However, recent medical

research and analysis, especially since 2007, provides strong

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety Page 391

evidence for the conclusion that a functioning cortex is not

necessary to experience pain;

7. Substantial evidence indicates that children born missing

the bulk of the cerebral cortex, those with hydranencephaly,

nevertheless experience pain;

8. In adults, stimulation or ablation of the cerebral cortex

does not alter pain perception, while stimulation or ablation of the

thalamus does;

9. Substantial evidence indicates that structures used for pain

processing in early development differ from those of adults, using

different neural elements available at specific times during

development, such as the subcortical plate, to fulfill the role of

pain processing;

10. The position, asserted by some, that the unborn child

remains in a coma-like sleep state that precludes the unborn child

from experiencing pain is inconsistent with the documented reaction

of unborn children to painful stimuli and with the experience of

fetal surgeons who have found it necessary to sedate the unborn

child with anesthesia to prevent the unborn child from thrashing

about in reaction to invasive surgery;

11. Consequently, there is substantial medical evidence that an

unborn child is capable of experiencing pain by twenty (20) weeks

after fertilization;

12. It is the purpose of the State of Oklahoma to assert a

compelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children

from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that

they are capable of feeling pain; and

13. Oklahoma's compelling state interest in protecting the

lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical

evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain is intended

to be separate from and independent of Oklahoma's compelling state

interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage

of viability, and neither state interest is intended to replace the

other.