This Month In State Policy, Special April Edition – A Tale of Two STI Bills: In-Depth Analysis on Recent Actions in Oklahoma

Oklahoma lawmakers are considering two bills that could expand STI treatment options and concurrently further criminalize transmission.

As NCSD cited earlier this year, SB1491 would codify expedited partner therapy (EPT), which authorizes partners of patients diagnosed with an STI to receive treatment without being directly examined by a provider. Only four states in the U.S. do not have explicit EPT rules and laws enacted, and with Kansas policymakers advancing similar legislation, the two states could close a critical gap in treatment access across the central United States.

The Oklahoma EPT bill was introduced by two lawmakers, including Representative Cynthia Roe (R-Lindsay), a former nurse practitioner. After the bill passed the Oklahoma Senate 40-5, Rep. Roe introduced an amended version in the House that clarifies chronic STIs requiring multiple treatment courses are not subject to EPT authorization. Furthermore, the amended version broadens Section 1-518 in the bill to state that failure to disclose an STI diagnosis to any health care provider is unlawful; previous language more narrowly limited required STI disclosure to a physician. If the House votes in favor of the new version, it will go back to the state Senate for concurrence.

Within the same legislative session, the Oklahoma House of Representatives policymakers passed HB3098, which would expand a list of diseases for which a person may be criminally charged if spread “with intent or recklessly.” While Oklahoma law already proscribes “reckless or intentional” transmission of some STIs—including HIV—the proposed bill would add chlamydia, hepatitis B, genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), and trichomoniasis to the criminalization statute. The initial version included a few other STIs and complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, bacterial vaginosis, and m. gen, which were removed.

If HB3098 becomes state law, it would extend existing statutes on syphilis, gonorrhea, and smallpox to include the STIs listed above and require that individuals convicted of intentional or reckless transmission be charged with a felony; anyone found guilty would be sentenced from two to five years in prison. The bill passed the Senate’s Public Safety Committee on April 4 and may head to the full chamber for a vote soon.

As cited by NCSD in February, criminalization laws in general, according to the CDC, actually discourage testing and treatment due to associated stigma. Nicole McAfee, Executive Director of Freedom Oklahoma, stated that “it’s frustrating to see the Oklahoma Legislature simultaneously advance expedited partner therapy measures, rooted in increasing access to treatment, decreasing stigma, and supporting folks through STI exposure, while also seeing policy proposals directly in opposition to those tenets advance.”

Opponents of the bill also emphasized the bill does not define “reckless,” which makes it vulnerable to frivolous lawsuits or legal ambiguity. In the end, if both bills pass, Oklahoma policymakers may make it both easier and harder for individuals in the state to access STI treatment and care. For example, a person diagnosed with an STI may be able to get their partner treated expeditiously without a clinic visit, but the same partner could claim the transmission was a crime. Alternatively, neither partner may get tested in the first place out of fear of felony charges.