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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Related Press

3 Could 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 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 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 high courtroom that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect instantly along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new regulation is in impact, they may instantly stop offering providers for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the law is in effect, which it now is as a result of the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks can be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers attorney for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will nonetheless grant us reduction."

The brand new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. A similar invoice authorized in Texas last yr led to a dramatic discount within the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, said Texas' law that took impact in September has given their staff an thought of what a post-Roe country may appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have recurrently treated sufferers who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time without work of labor, taking day out of faculty and taking time away from their household responsibilities to get the care that till September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily in their communities."

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

Like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable non-public 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 stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly 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 isn't set to take effect till this summer time, and authorized specialists say it's more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade determination still remains the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions performed every 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 Department of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma have been girls from Texas.

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