Two Oklahoma City-area mothers are suing five state officials, alleging Oklahoma's abortion bans forced them out of state after doctors said their pregnancies would not survive.

The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the lawsuit Wednesday, Sept. 16, in Oklahoma County District Court on behalf of Magon Hoffman and Sheena Hamlin. The case, No. CJ-2026-7439, names Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna and three state health board leaders as defendants. Two Oklahoma City OB-GYNs and the Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, a nonprofit, are also plaintiffs.

Oklahoma allows abortion only to save the life of the mother. The lawsuit challenges two bans: a 1910 criminal statute that predates the Roe v. Wade era and a separate 22-week ban. It argues both violate pregnant Oklahomans' rights to life, liberty, due process and equal protection under the Oklahoma Constitution when applied to pregnancies with fatal fetal diagnoses.

The suit asks the court to block enforcement of those bans in fatal-diagnosis cases. It cites a March 2023 Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that recognized a right to life-preserving abortions and asks the court to extend those protections.

Hoffman learned in late December 2022 that her daughter, whom she named Lottie, had anencephaly, a condition in which the brain and skull do not develop as expected. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist told her the baby had no skull and no chance of survival, according to the petition. Hoffman and her husband drove eight hours to New Mexico for care. Her insurance would not cover the out-of-state procedure, and she paid about $3,000 for travel, lodging and childcare.

She also lost her job.

"Oklahoma turned the hardest day of my life into weeks of needless suffering on top of our grief," Hoffman said in a statement released with the filing. "I had to travel eight hours out of state to get care, far from my home, my family, and my support system when I needed them most."

Hamlin learned at about 21 weeks pregnant, in late 2024, that her daughter Ellie had a condition a specialist suspected was Meckel-Gruber syndrome. The specialist said Ellie would likely die before birth. If she survived, her severely underdeveloped lungs would cause her to suffocate almost as soon as the umbilical cord was cut, the petition states. Hamlin flew to Illinois just before Thanksgiving and paid more than $4,000 out of pocket.

The other three defendants, all named in their official capacities, are Oklahoma State Department of Health Commissioner Keith Reed; Sandra Harrison, executive director of the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision; and Steven K. Mullins, executive director of the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said the office is still reviewing the lawsuit, Oklahoma Voice reported. The Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office did not return a request for comment to Oklahoma Voice. Harrison said she had not been served and had no comment. A spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Department of Health said the agency had not been served and does not comment on pending litigation.

Mullins said he had not been served but looks forward to "the defense of the laws of Oklahoma by the excellent lawyers employed by the Oklahoma Attorney General."

The Center for Reproductive Rights has filed similar lawsuits in Texas, Idaho and Tennessee. No hearing date has been set in the Oklahoma case.