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 pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 Might 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 need Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's excessive court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice 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 quickly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new legislation is in effect, they'll immediately cease providing services for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the legislation is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks might be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Heart 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 new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise could be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they're pregnant. An identical bill authorized in Texas final yr led to a dramatic discount within the number 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, mentioned Texas' regulation that took impact in September has given their workers an idea of what a post-Roe nation might appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've repeatedly treated patients who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking day off of work, taking day trip of school and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

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

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would allow personal residents to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady obtain an abortion for as much as $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 primary copycat measure in March, although it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure will not be set to take impact until this summer time, and legal consultants say it is more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade decision still remains the law of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily during the last twenty years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in response to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

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