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 Related Press

3 May 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 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 excessive court that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect immediately along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the new law is in impact, they are going to instantly stop providing companies for ladies after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the regulation is in impact, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a staff lawyer for the New York-based Center 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 Courtroom will still grant us relief."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise could 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 authorised in Texas last 12 months led to a dramatic discount in the number of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their staff an thought of what a post-Roe country may appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've regularly treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time without work of labor, taking time out of school and taking time away from their household obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily in their communities."

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

Just like the Texas law, the Oklahoma invoice would enable non-public citizens to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a girl acquire 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 repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure just isn't set to take impact till this summer time, and legal experts say it is prone to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade choice still remains the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past two decades, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in line with data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas regulation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

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