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

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

Stitt's signing of the invoice comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high court docket that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

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

“While the regulation is in impact, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a staff legal professional for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will nonetheless grant us reduction."

The new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they are pregnant. An identical invoice permitted in Texas final year led to a dramatic discount within the variety of abortions performed 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, mentioned Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their workers an thought of what a post-Roe nation would possibly look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've regularly treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking break day of labor, taking trip of school and taking time away from their household obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they were in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there are no exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would permit personal residents to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady get hold of 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 copy 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, but that measure is not set to take impact until this summer time, and legal specialists say it is prone to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade determination nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions carried out annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last twenty years, from more 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 Health. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma have been ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the info shows. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.