(Newser)
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A state bill that would require doctors to notify women they have the option of listening to the heartbeat of the fetus before abortion has passed the Oklahoma Senate and will move on to the House for expected passage there, reports Reuters. The original incarnation of the bill required women to hear the heartbeat, but it got watered down a bit to require only that doctors tell women of that option.
"Women should be fully informed and understand the repercussions of their actions," said the bill's sponsor. "A heartbeat is life. Without a heartbeat, you cannot live." The Tulsa World notes that a female lawmaker tried and failed to get an amendment passed to regulate vasectomies. Its wording: "It is the purpose of the Legislature to assert an invasive state interest in the reproductive habits of men in this state and substitute the will of the government over the will of adult men."
