Advocates say abortion ban and bathroom restriction laws could impact Oklahoma's economy
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma now has the strictest abortion ban in the country and a new law restricting bathroom access to students.
Both of the controversial laws are causing conflict for organizations in the state and companies across the country.
While the conversation at the state legislature has revolved around protecting a woman's reproductive rights or protecting the life of an unborn child, what's come up after the Governor's signature is protecting Oklahoma's economy.
While neither SB615 or HB4327 will cost the state a dime, that doesn't mean they couldn't shake Oklahoma's private sector.
"We've seen companies make a really clear stand that anti-trans policies and policies affecting abortion access are unacceptable," Nicole McAfee, Executive Director of Freedom Oklahoma said. "And so I think that we're both going to see economic loss from companies saying no, we won't invest in Oklahoma, or we won't invest here any longer. And it's going to be hard to recruit people in fields like health care and education, where we've already struggled."
A group of more than 200 companies on a Human Rights Campaign petition list the large businesses that are against bathroom restriction laws.
National companies such as Apple, Amazon and American Airlines make the list.
While it's too early to tell how the laws could impact the state's economy, advocates are looking to other states for reference, especially when it comes to the new bathroom law.
"In 2016 North Carolina passed almost an identical bill, and what we did see was that we had businesses that refused to go to North Carolina,"Tamya Cox-Toure, the Executive Director of ACLU Oklahoma said. "We had travel bans for people travel boycotting to North Carolina. We had a Governor that ended up losing his election because of these bathroom bans."
The difference in views between lawmakers and private companies has had monumental effects.
The NCAA pulled championships out of North Carolina.
Lyft, Yelp and other massive companies paid for abortion travel.
Advocates hope these organization will continue to offer their support.
Others wait to see if events that bring in major dollars, like the Women's College World Series, stay in Oklahoma.
"That is really where we can get businesses and community leaders to really step up and talk about why these bills are not only bad for Oklahomans, but bad for business," Cox-Toure said.
Along with the costs of businesses potentially moving out of our state or deciding not to come here, advocates also point to the costs of litigation.
Pro-choice organizations are already planning to challenge the abortion ban in court.
FOX25 reached out to the State Chamber of Commerce and OKC Chamber of Commerce. Both declined to comment.
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