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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Related Press

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

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

Stitt's signing of the invoice 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 decision that legalized abortion practically 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new law is in effect, they'll immediately cease offering services for ladies after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the law is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a employees 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, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will still grant us relief."

The brand new law prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise will be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. A similar bill accepted in Texas final year led to a dramatic discount in the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, stated Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their employees an concept of what a post-Roe nation might look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have often treated patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking break day of work, taking outing of college and taking time away from their family duties to get the care that until September 2021 they had been in a position to get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, but there aren't any exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would allow non-public citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a woman get hold of an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary 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 just isn't set to take impact until this summer, and authorized specialists say it is prone to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the law of the land.

The variety of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past two decades, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in accordance with knowledge from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma every month, the data exhibits. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.