Oklahoma governor signs the nation’s strictest abortion ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed into regulation the nation’s strictest abortion ban, making the state the primary in the nation to effectively end availability of the procedure.

State lawmakers authorised the ban enforced by civil lawsuits slightly than criminal prosecution, similar to a Texas law that was passed last yr. The regulation takes impact immediately upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion providers have stated they will cease performing the procedure as quickly as the bill is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I might signal each piece of pro-life legislation that came throughout my desk and I am proud to maintain that promise at this time,” the first-term Republican said in an announcement. “From the moment life begins at conception is when we have a responsibility as human beings to do every part we are able to to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mom. That's what I imagine and that's what the vast majority of Oklahomans believe.”

Abortion suppliers throughout the nation have been bracing for the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court’s new conservative majority may additional limit the follow, and that has particularly been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The impression shall be disastrous for Oklahomans,” stated Elizabeth Nash, a state coverage analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It would even have severe ripple effects, especially for Texas patients who had been touring to Oklahoma in massive numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into effect in September.”

The payments are a part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states to cut back abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s excessive courtroom that suggests justices are contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

The only exceptions within the Oklahoma law are to save the lifetime of a pregnant woman or if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to legislation enforcement.

The bill specifically authorizes doctors to remove a “useless unborn youngster caused by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to remove an ectopic pregnancy, a probably life-threatening emergency that occurs when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube and early in pregnancy.

The regulation also does not apply to using morning-after pills equivalent to Plan B or any kind of contraception.

Two of Oklahoma’s 4 abortion clinics already stopped offering abortions after the governor signed a six-week ban earlier this month.

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics anticipated to stop offering services, it is unclear what is going to occur to women who qualify under one of the exceptions. The law’s author, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says docs will be empowered to determine which girls qualify and that those abortions will be carried out in hospitals. However providers and abortion-rights activists warn that trying to prove qualification might prove tough and even dangerous in some circumstances.

Along with the Texas-style bill already signed into legislation, the measure is one of no less than three anti-abortion bills sent this yr to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s legislation is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas law that the U.S. Supreme Courtroom has allowed to remain in place that permits private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman get hold of an abortion. Other 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

The third Oklahoma bill is to take impact this summer and would make it a felony to carry out an abortion, punishable by as much as 10 years in jail. That invoice accommodates no exceptions for rape or incest.