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

“I would like Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state within 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 excessive courtroom that it's considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

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

“While the legislation is in effect, which it now is as a result of the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers lawyer for the New York-based Center 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 Court will still grant us aid."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise 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 accredited in Texas last yr led to a dramatic discount within the number of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, mentioned Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their staff an thought of what a post-Roe country might appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've repeatedly treated patients who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time without work of work, taking day trip of faculty and taking time away from their family responsibilities to get the care that till September 2021 they were capable of get safely and readily of their communities."

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

Just like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would allow personal residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a lady receive an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other 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 year signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure is not set to take effect till this summer season, and authorized consultants say it's prone to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade determination still stays the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions performed every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last twenty years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in accordance with information from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas law was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been women from Texas.

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