Contact: State Rep. Danny Morgan
Capitol: (405) 557-7368

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 11, 2010) – Lawmakers have voted to allow women to use handicapped parking spaces during the final months of pregnancy if a physician deems it necessary.

"Obviously, pregnancy is not a disability in the traditional sense, but late-stage pregnancy does include physical challenges," said state Rep. Danny Morgan, D-Prague. "In the final trimester, many women have conditions that make walking difficult and painful, and I believe we should make some accommodation for those mothers-to-be. This legislation is both pro-woman and pro-child."

House Bill 2907, by Morgan and state Sen. Susan Paddack (D-Ada), would allow women to obtain a temporary placard from a physician that allows them to use handicap parking spaces.

Current law allows those placards to go to individuals who cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, people who require the use of a brace or a cane, those who have temporarily lost the use of one or more limbs (such as those with a broken leg), and those who are severely limited in their ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological or orthopedic condition.

Morgan, the leader of the House Democratic Caucus, said the idea for the legislation came during the recent ice storms when he witnessed a pregnant woman having to cross an icy parking lot on foot.

"The consequences of a fall at that stage of the pregnancy could have been very serious," Morgan said. "If that woman had been allowed to use the handicap spot near the entrance, the risk of injury would have been greatly reduced."

In both 2007 and 2008, the average monthly birth rate was around 4,500 births.

According to the Department of Public Safety Office of Driver Compliance, the number of handicap placards issued for the last fiscal year was almost 80,000 (including both five-year permits and six-month temporary permits).

"When you crunch the numbers, it’s pretty clear that granting pregnant women temporary placards will not create a parking shortage for individuals with permanent disabilities," Morgan said. "In any given quarter, you would only have perhaps 1,100 more placards issued statewide on top of the 80,000 already issued."

And Morgan noted the bill would not mean all pregnant women would automatically be given a placard.

"This legislation simply grants greater authority to physicians to issue temporary parking placards to pregnant women," Morgan said. "The placards would be granted only when a physician determines that a woman in her final months of pregnancy should limit her activity and meets the physical disability definition of not being able to walk 200 feet without resting."

House Bill 2907 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a 97-0 vote. It now proceeds to the state Senate.