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 pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 Could 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 Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state within the country," 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 impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion providers say now that the brand new law is in impact, they are going to instantly cease providing services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the legislation is in effect, which it now is as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers attorney for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers within 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 activity can be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. An identical invoice authorized in Texas final yr led to a dramatic reduction within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their employees an idea of what a post-Roe country might appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have usually handled patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time off of labor, taking trip of faculty and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that until September 2021 they have been able to get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the results of a medical emergency, but there are not any exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would permit personal citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady receive an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to stay 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 year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure isn't set to take effect till this summer season, and authorized experts say it's more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless remains the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last two decades, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in response to data from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas law was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

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