With a Democrat no longer in the governor's office to keep them in check, Republican legislators have filed numerous bills that could violate federal and state prohibitions against mixing religious doctrine with government, a group of concerned residents said Saturday.

“This year we really have a challenge,” said Victor Hutchison, president of Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education and professor emeritus of the University of Oklahoma's zoology department.

Measures include requiring teaching creationism in public schools, paving the way for vouchers for private schools, and establishing when life begins, which could interfere with medical research and a woman's choice to have an abortion, said members of the Oklahoma City chapter of the Americans for Separation of Church and State.

“We've got tons of legitimate problems in this state — economic problems and we've got big deficits,” said Mike Fuller, president of the local group. “These legislators want to focus on these ideological cases that really will not advance our state at all. They'll send it going backward in my opinion.”