Oklahoma gets D- on reproductive health

A call to action after Oklahoma gets a near-failing grade on women's health care.

The report card is in, and according to The Population Institute, Oklahoma gets a D-. Researchers looked at current programs, how much they cost and how well they're working.

They say Oklahoma is one of 12 states with a D grade. Thirteen states got an F. The country overall received a C-.

"Oklahoma has a fairly high teen pregnancy rate and a fairly high unintended pregnancy rate, with over 55 percent of pregnancies in Oklahoma being unintended," said Jennie Wetter with the Population Institute. She says those numbers mean the current policies are not working.

Rep. Dan Fisher (R- Yukon) disagrees.

"It's a moral problem," he said.

He says parents need to fill the voids in sex education and helping prevent unintended pregnancies.

"Regardless of which religious faith you have, if we would teach basic morality we wouldn't have an issue," he said.

He questions the reasoning behind the report card.

"It matters greatly who gave us the D-...they're a very leftist, pro-abortion, green earth group."

The Institute said the fact that Oklahoma decided not to expand the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act lost the state many points in the category of affordability.

They also looked at a hot button issue: access to abortions. The study shows 56 percent of women in Oklahoma do not live in a county with an abortion provider. Legislation requiring pre-abortion counseling and minors to get parental consent also brought the grade for access down.

That's something Fisher says he's proud of.

"Their grade adequately reflects our position. We want few abortions because we believe it's the murder of the unborn," he said.

The Institute hopes the information serves as a call to action for women in Oklahoma. And that people realize the health care debate is not just on a national level, but also vitally important in each state.

"It's really important that people are calling up their representatives in the state government and letting them know that they don't support these restrictive policies," Wetter said.

But Fisher says the D- doesn't have him or other lawmakers worried.

"For those of us who don't agree with their ideology, the grade that they give us is immaterial," he said.

Planned Parenthood also released a statement in light of the report card:

"Our legislature spends an exorbitant amount of time focusing on bills that restrict women's access to reproductive health care services.

These laws are expensive, as they often result in drawn-out lawsuits, and they accomplish nothing useful. We would be better served if they worked on positive changes that would improve Oklahoma's economy - including improved access to health care for all," said CEO Anita Fream.

Read the complete report card here.