Oklahoma governor indicators the nation’s strictest abortion ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed into law the nation’s strictest abortion ban, making the state the first in the nation to successfully end availability of the procedure.

State lawmakers authorised the ban enforced by civil lawsuits somewhat than felony prosecution, much like a Texas regulation that was handed final yr. The legislation takes impact instantly upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion suppliers have mentioned they will stop performing the procedure as quickly as the bill is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I'd signal every piece of pro-life legislation that got here across my desk and I am proud to maintain that promise immediately,” the first-term Republican said in a press release. “From the moment life begins at conception is when we've got a responsibility as human beings to do every little thing we will to guard that baby’s life and the life of the mother. That's what I consider and that's what nearly all of Oklahomans believe.”

Abortion suppliers across the nation have been bracing for the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s new conservative majority would possibly additional prohibit the apply, and that has particularly been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The impression will probably be disastrous for Oklahomans,” stated Elizabeth Nash, a state coverage analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It'll also have severe ripple effects, especially for Texas sufferers who had been traveling to Oklahoma in massive numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into impact in September.”

The bills are a part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states to reduce abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s high courtroom that means justices are considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

The only exceptions in the Oklahoma legislation are to save lots of the lifetime of a pregnant woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to legislation enforcement.

The bill particularly authorizes medical doctors to remove a “dead unborn child brought on by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to remove an ectopic being pregnant, a potentially life-threatening emergency that occurs when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube and early in pregnancy.

The regulation additionally does not apply to using morning-after pills comparable to Plan B or any sort of contraception.

Two of Oklahoma’s four abortion clinics already stopped offering abortions after the governor signed a six-week ban earlier this month.

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics anticipated to cease offering companies, it's unclear what will occur to girls who qualify below one of the exceptions. The law’s writer, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says docs will be empowered to determine which women qualify and that these abortions can be performed in hospitals. However providers and abortion-rights activists warn that attempting to show qualification may prove difficult and even dangerous in some circumstances.

In addition to the Texas-style bill already signed into law, the measure is one of at least three anti-abortion bills sent this 12 months to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s legislation is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas regulation that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to remain in place that enables non-public citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a girl receive an abortion. Different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom

The third Oklahoma bill is to take impact this summer and would make it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. That invoice comprises no exceptions for rape or incest.