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 Related Press

3 May 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 Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be 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 docket that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion practically 50 years in the past.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the new law is in impact, they will immediately cease providing services 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 providers after six weeks might be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will nonetheless grant us relief."

The brand new legislation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity could be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. An identical invoice authorised in Texas last 12 months led to a dramatic discount within the number 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 Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, mentioned Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their staff an idea of what a post-Roe country might appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have commonly handled patients who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking break day of labor, taking outing of college and taking time away from their family responsibilities to get the care that till September 2021 they had been capable of get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out 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 invoice would permit non-public citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a girl acquire an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to remain in place, different Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure will not be set to take impact until this summer season, and authorized specialists say it's likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade choice nonetheless remains the law of the land.

The number of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in keeping with data from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were 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 quantity jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.