Oklahoma governor indicators the nation’s strictest abortion ban

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

State lawmakers permitted the ban enforced by civil lawsuits rather than criminal prosecution, similar to a Texas legislation that was passed last yr. The legislation takes impact instantly upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion providers have said they are going to stop performing the process as quickly because the bill is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I'd sign each piece of pro-life laws that came across my desk and I'm proud to maintain that promise at present,” the first-term Republican stated in a press release. “From the moment life begins at conception is when we've got a responsibility as human beings to do all the things we are able to to guard that baby’s life and the lifetime of the mother. That is what I consider and that is what the vast majority of Oklahomans consider.”

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

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

The bills are part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states to scale back abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s excessive court docket that means justices are considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The only exceptions in the Oklahoma legislation are to save lots of the life of a pregnant girl or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to regulation enforcement.

The invoice particularly authorizes doctors to take away a “dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to remove an ectopic pregnancy, a probably life-threatening emergency that happens when a fertilized egg implants exterior the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube and early in pregnancy.

The regulation also doesn't apply to the usage of morning-after pills corresponding to Plan B or any type of contraception.

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

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics anticipated to stop providing services, it's unclear what's going to happen to girls who qualify below one of the exceptions. The legislation’s writer, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says medical doctors will likely be empowered to determine which ladies qualify and that these abortions will probably be carried out in hospitals. But providers and abortion-rights activists warn that making an attempt to prove qualification could prove tough and even dangerous in some circumstances.

In addition to the Texas-style bill already signed into legislation, the measure is considered one of a minimum of three anti-abortion bills despatched this year 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 personal citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a lady get hold of an abortion. Different Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket

The third Oklahoma invoice is to take effect this summer and would make it a felony to carry out an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. That invoice incorporates no exceptions for rape or incest.