Oklahoma governor signs 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 Related Press

3 Could 2022, 23:03

• 4 min learn

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, a 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 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 high courtroom that it's considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect instantly together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new legislation is in effect, they may immediately cease offering services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the law is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks will be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a workers lawyer for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will still grant us aid."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity might be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, before many ladies know they're pregnant. An identical bill authorised in Texas last 12 months led to a dramatic reduction in the variety 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, said Texas' law that took effect in September has given their workers an concept of what a post-Roe nation would possibly look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've usually handled patients who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time off of labor, taking trip of school and taking time away from their household tasks to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the results of a medical emergency, but there are no exceptions if the being pregnant is the results of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable non-public residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman receive an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to remain in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure is not set to take impact until this summer time, and legal experts say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade choice nonetheless stays the law of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in response to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been girls from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma every month, the information exhibits. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.