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 Related Press

3 Might 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 Court will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be probably 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 excessive court docket 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 together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new law is in effect, they may immediately stop providing companies for ladies after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the law is in impact, which it now is because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a employees lawyer for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will still grant us aid."

The new legislation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity will be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. An analogous invoice authorized in Texas final year led to a dramatic discount within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, stated Texas' regulation that took impact in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe nation may appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've commonly handled patients who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking day off of labor, taking day out of college and taking time away from their family tasks to get the care that till September 2021 they had been capable of 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.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable private residents to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a lady obtain 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 temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure isn't set to take impact till this summer season, and authorized consultants say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision still stays the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed each 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 additional than 20 years, in response to knowledge from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma have been women from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma each month, the data reveals. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.