Oklahoma governor indicators Texas-style ban on most abortions

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 Could 2022, 23:03

• 4 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state in the nation," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's excessive courtroom that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new law is in effect, they may instantly stop providing services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the regulation is in impact, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a staff lawyer for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will still grant us relief."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity will be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. A similar invoice accepted in Texas final year led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, mentioned Texas' law that took effect in September has given their workers an idea of what a post-Roe nation may look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've recurrently handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking break day of labor, taking trip of faculty and taking time away from their family responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they have been capable of get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the results of a medical emergency, however there aren't any exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would enable personal citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady acquire an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom allowed that mechanism to remain in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure isn't set to take effect till this summer time, and legal experts say it's likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last two decades, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in keeping with data from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas law was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the info exhibits. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.