OKLAHOMA – On Friday, March 13th, 2026, Representative Rande Worthen announced that he will not be seeking re-election, “bringing his legislative service to a close at the end of his term”. This happened after a long battle with abolitionists of abortion, who were asking him to hear HB3038, The Abolition of Abortion Act, which was assigned to the House Criminal Judiciary Committee, of which he was the chairman. Abolish Abortion Oklahoma (AAOK) sent texts to Republican voters in his district asking them to join the call, and they did. Yet, Representative Worthen did not give the bill a hearing. After refusing to do that, condemning thousands of pre-born Oklahomans to death under the cover of our state’s laws, abolitionists and Christians from all over the state and his own district pleaded with him to allow the bill to be transferred into a different committee, one that would allow it to be heard. He refused to do so.
After this blow, abolitionists expressed their disapproval all over the internet, and folks in Representative Rande Worthen’s own district were calling and emailing his office, expressing their frustration. AAOK began to fundraise for a billboard and door hangers that would have Rep. Rande Worthen’s face on them, which said, “REP. RANDE WORTHEN: THE MAN WHO KEPT ABORTION LEGAL IN OKLAHOMA”. If funded, the billboard would be placed in Worthen’s district, and the doorhangers would be put on all Republican voters in the area. The mockup of the potential billboard and door hangers (pictured below) went viral across social media.
On Tuesday, March 10th, AAOK reached their funding goal. It’s seemingly no coincidence that three days later, Representative Worthen announced that he is no longer seeking re-election. In fact, in his announcement, he mentioned the abolitionist legislation:
“Though some may try to claim they forced me out of running again, I have been considering it for some time now. I have been a supporter of every pro-life bill before the legislation during my time in office. But when their bill came before my committee which required charging girls as young as 13-17 years of age with murder, I knew I would not hear a bill that would require that result even when they were victims of rape or incest,” said Worthen.
Notice, that although Representative Worthen has played a part in hundreds of bills passing or failing during his tenure, and even just in this past session, only the abolitionists’ bill (which he called “the legislation”) got mentioned in his statement on not seeking re-election. Although he says that he is not being forced out because of this move, it seems clear to abolitionists that this is exactly what happened.
As far as what he stated about HB3038, it’s a classic case of framing what our bill would have actually done in the worst possible light. Our bill would have merely applied the Oklahoman laws that protect born humans from murder equally to all people, including unborn people. If a thirteen year old murders their born child, the judicial system in Oklahoma has systems in place to make sure they are prosecuted fairly, with all facts of the case weighed and considered before a jury. Things like coercion, mistake of fact, and the juvenile status of the offender are all considered in judgement at this moment when a 13 year old murders someone else. We are merely asking that the rights and privileges of the victim in these types of cases be extended to all humans equally.
Indeed, this is what the Oklahoma Constitution requires. Section 2 of the Bill of Rights states, “All persons have the inherent right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry.”. Section 6 says, “The courts of justice of the State shall be open to every person, and speedy and certain remedy afforded for every wrong and for every injury to person, property, or reputation; and right and justice shall be administered without sale, denial, delay, or prejudice.” Section 7 says, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
These sections both require the equal protection of the laws, and equal justice of the punishments for victims of prenatal homicide. These sections also lay out many of the rights of defendants that are charged with this crime in our criminal justice system. Considering that Rep. Rande Worthen is unaware that this is what the Oklahoma Constitution requires, or he is willingly ignoring it, the end of his tenure should be seen as a gift from God.
Let us be clear: We are in no way embarrassed about the many implications that treating humans with equal dignity and rights would have. We live in a culture that bristles at the thought that we would ever establish justice in this way, because it’s inconvenient for them. We do not care that people will attempt to frame equal human rights in the most ridiculous ways possible. We will instead keep insisting: All humans everywhere should be treated without partiality, they should be equally protected under the law, and they should be given equal justice.
Since Worthen has announced his decision to not seek re-election, abolitionists all over the state, and indeed all over the country, have celebrated his departure. We are trusting that God is using this event for His glory, and we are trusting the future of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to His guiding hands.
“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” – Proverbs 21:1 ESV
For press inquiries, please contact director@abolishabortionok.org
