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 being pregnant, 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 essentially the most pro-life state in 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 high court docket that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion almost 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 briefly halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new law is in effect, they will immediately cease providing services for ladies after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the law is in impact, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a employees legal professional for the New York-based Center 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 Court will still grant us relief."

The brand new law prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity will be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they're pregnant. An analogous bill authorized in Texas last 12 months 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' law that took effect in September has given their workers an concept of what a post-Roe nation might appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have regularly treated patients who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time off of labor, taking trip of college and taking time away from their family tasks to get the care that till 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 being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would allow private residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman get hold of an abortion for as much as $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 Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure will not be set to take effect until this summer season, and legal consultants say it is more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless remains the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last two decades, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in response to knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma had been ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma each month, the information shows. That number jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.