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 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 docket will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state within the nation," 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 court docket that it is contemplating 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 Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the new legislation is in impact, they will instantly stop providing services for ladies after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the law is in effect, which it now's because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks might be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a employees legal professional for the New York-based Middle 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 docket will still grant us relief."

The new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity could be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many ladies know they are pregnant. A similar bill accredited in Texas final 12 months led to a dramatic reduction within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

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

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've recurrently handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking day without work of labor, taking outing of faculty and taking time away from their household responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there are not any exceptions if the being pregnant is the results of rape or incest.

Like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would permit non-public citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman receive an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this 12 months 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 season, and authorized consultants say it is more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade determination still stays the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past two decades, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in line with knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

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