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 first in the nation to successfully end availability of the procedure.

State lawmakers approved the ban enforced by civil lawsuits somewhat than prison prosecution, much like a Texas regulation that was passed final 12 months. The regulation takes effect immediately upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion suppliers have said they'll cease performing the process as quickly as the invoice is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would signal each piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I'm proud to maintain that promise at the moment,” the first-term Republican stated in a statement. “From the moment life begins at conception is when we've got a responsibility as human beings to do every little thing we will to protect that baby’s life and the lifetime of the mother. That's what I believe and that is what nearly all of Oklahomans believe.”

Abortion providers across the country have been bracing for the chance that the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s new conservative majority may additional limit the apply, and that has especially been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The influence will be disastrous for Oklahomans,” said Elizabeth Nash, a state coverage analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It will even have extreme ripple results, particularly for Texas patients who had been touring to Oklahoma in giant numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into effect in September.”

The payments 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 high court that means justices are considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

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

The invoice particularly authorizes doctors to remove a “lifeless unborn child brought on by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to take away an ectopic pregnancy, a potentially life-threatening emergency that happens when a fertilized egg implants outdoors the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube and early in being pregnant.

The legislation also doesn't apply to the usage of morning-after pills equivalent to Plan B or any type 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 providing services, it's unclear what will occur to ladies who qualify beneath one of the exceptions. The legislation’s creator, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says medical doctors will likely be empowered to determine which women qualify and that these abortions will probably be carried out in hospitals. However suppliers and abortion-rights activists warn that making an attempt to show qualification may prove tough and even harmful in some circumstances.

In addition to the Texas-style invoice already signed into legislation, the measure is one of a minimum of three anti-abortion bills sent this 12 months to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s legislation is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas law that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to stay in place that allows private residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a lady obtain an abortion. 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

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