The bill is called the “Humanity of the Unborn Child Act,” and Coody said its intention is to instruct teenagers that life begins at conception.

Coody said the bill is the top priority of Oklahomans for Life, and she left much of the presentation of HB 2797 to the organization’s director, Tulsan Tony Lauinger.

Lauinger said he didn’t know exactly how the education component would be implemented or what the public service announcements might look and sound like.

Lauinger said parents could “opt out” of the instruction for their children.

Opponents Emily Virgin, D-Norman, and Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma City, asked why the bill did not also include sex education.

“If this is really to lower the number of abortions, why would sex education and contraception not be part of it?” Dunnington asked.

“There is only one sure prevention of pregnancy, and that’s not to cause it in the first place,” said Coody. “The killing of a human being is murder, plain and simple.”

Coody acknowledged that the bill could not be implemented this year because of budget constraints, but she said enacting it would put the Legislature’s position on abortion on the record.