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 Court docket will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be 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 high courtroom that it's considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact instantly along 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 new regulation is in effect, they will immediately cease offering companies for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Heart 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 aid."

The new regulation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise could be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many women know they're pregnant. The same invoice authorised in Texas final yr led to a dramatic reduction within the number 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 Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, stated Texas' legislation that took impact in September has given their employees an concept of what a post-Roe country may look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have recurrently handled patients who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking day off of work, taking trip of faculty and taking time away from their household tasks to get the care that until September 2021 they were capable of get safely and readily of their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, but there are no exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would enable non-public residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman receive an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily 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 consultants say it's likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision still stays the law of the land.

The number of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last twenty years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, according to information from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas law was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were women from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma every month, the information exhibits. That number jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.