News & Commentary

In the face of continued discrimination in our state, we celebrated amazing wins for the rights of many Oklahomans. As these laws become closer to reality, we will continue to track these bills in the Capitol and brace to defend our civil liberties after this session adjourns.

No one deserves to be denied essential health care and forced to carry a pregnancy against their will.

The ACLU OK Oklahoma's weekly policy and advocacy newsletter.

The ACLU OK Oklahoma's weekly policy and advocacy newsletter.

The ACLU OK Oklahoma's weekly policy and advocacy newsletter.

While most Oklahomans are aware that our legislature is meeting, it can be hard to follow along with what exactly is happening--so much of what goes on inside the Capitol is shrouded in layers of process and jargon. So, for months at a time legislators move their priorities through the various chambers, titles move on and off, amendments are submitted with little time to review, and major deadlines mean sometimes more than 100 bills are heard in a day. A handful of bills get signed into law in these early months, but often it seems like a sprint to get bills across the final hurdles as a state budget is wrapped up in May, and the public gets toplines of the best and the worst through legislative wrap up articles or coverage around effective dates. In an election year, all of that seems especially true, with many bills moving along party lines for the sake of partisan talking points and political scorecards. But then, you have bills like Senate Bill 1728, which poses an entirely different kind of danger.