29-04-2025
Oklahoma policies are supposed to help us thrive, not make us feel unwelcome
Every day, my work involves helping Oklahoma businesses grow and thrive.
Over and over, the people who own and run corporations of all sizes ― not to mention nonprofits ― tell me they face the same concern: difficulty hiring and retaining talented workers at all levels.
We know this problem exists statewide, because we also hear about it from chambers of commerce, economists, educators and elected officials.
Often the proposed solutions involve reforming or updating the education system, or changing how the state raises revenue.
The folks I talk to agree those are all important factors. But they also see a bigger issue: State policy can make some people feel unwelcome and unsafe.
For example, one leader told me they lost a key employee in a high-level leadership role because the employee worried she and her family would not be able to access the medical care they needed if they remained in Oklahoma.
One bill under consideration this session, House Bill 1224, would make things even worse.
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This bill, framed as a protection for 'conscience rights' in health care, will have consequences that stretch far beyond hospitals and doctor's offices. It creates an environment where individuals and institutions can legally decline procedures based on personal beliefs, opening the door to discrimination against women, people of different religious backgrounds and potentially anyone who doesn't align with the providers 'morals.'
In fact, the bill is so vague that it could even allow someone to deny a vaccine, a blood transfusion or any other medical care.
Despite Oklahoma's many advantages, high-talent people choosing between here and somewhere else may decide to go to a state where they can be themselves ― without facing judgment or discrimination by anyone in or near the health care field.
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Every Oklahoman should have the right to choose their own religion, or lack thereof, and practice it freely, as long as it doesn't harm others. A bill that removes medical decisions from the doctor and patient ― giving power to insurance companies, administrators and even office staff ― is morally wrong. It's also bad for business, because it drives away the best and the brightest.
If Oklahoma becomes known as a place where basic medical services are uncertain, and where entire groups of people may be turned away, we will struggle to keep and attract the skilled workforce our economy needs.
Workforce development is complicated, and it's difficult. HB 1224 would make it harder than it needs to be. Please ask your state senator to vote no on this bill, which harms our ability to grow.
Alexandra Towler-Bliss is the Founding Attorney of Culture Connection Law.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OK health care policy is bad for business, hurts workforce | Opinion
