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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 May 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 being pregnant, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be probably the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's excessive court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion almost 50 years in the past.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the invoice. Abortion providers say now that the new regulation is in effect, they may immediately cease offering services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a staff lawyer for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will nonetheless grant us relief."

The new regulation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise might be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. A similar invoice authorised in Texas last year led to a dramatic reduction in the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, stated Texas' regulation that took impact in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe country may appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have usually handled patients who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking break day of work, taking outing of college and taking time away from their household responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they had been able to get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the results of a medical emergency, but there are not any exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would allow personal citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a lady obtain an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other 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.

Stitt earlier this year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure is not set to take effect until this summer time, and authorized experts say it's likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless remains the law of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out each year in Oklahoma, which has 4 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, according to information from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma every month, the info reveals. That number jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.