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

“I need Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

Stitt's signing of the invoice 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 impact immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new legislation is in effect, they are going to immediately cease offering companies for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the regulation is in impact, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks can be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a employees attorney for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will still grant us relief."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise can be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. An identical bill accepted in Texas last year led to a dramatic reduction within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, stated Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe nation might look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have repeatedly treated sufferers who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking day off of labor, taking day trip of faculty and taking time away from their family responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, however there aren't any exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would permit personal residents to sue abortion providers or anyone 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, although it has been quickly 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 is just not set to take effect until this summer time, and legal specialists say it is prone to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless remains the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out each year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in response to information from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been women from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma each month, the data reveals. That number jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.