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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 Might 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 the most pro-life state within 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 excessive court docket that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion almost 50 years in the past.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact instantly along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the new legislation is in impact, they'll immediately cease providing providers for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a staff legal professional 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 docket will nonetheless grant us relief."

The new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise may be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many ladies know they're pregnant. A similar bill permitted in Texas last yr led to a dramatic discount in the number 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' law that took effect in September has given their workers an thought of what a post-Roe nation may appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've commonly handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking break day of work, taking outing of school and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they had been able to get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, however there aren't any exceptions if the being pregnant is the results of rape or incest.

Like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would allow personal residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a girl get hold of an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket 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 year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure just isn't set to take impact till this summer, and authorized specialists say it is likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution still stays the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions carried out annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in accordance with knowledge from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma every month, the data reveals. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.