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 Related Press

3 Might 2022, 23:03

• 4 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state in the nation," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's excessive court docket that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new regulation is in effect, they are going to instantly stop offering services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the law is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a workers attorney for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will still grant us aid."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise could be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. The same invoice accepted in Texas final year led to a dramatic discount in the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, said Texas' regulation that took impact in September has given their workers an concept of what a post-Roe country would possibly appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have usually treated patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking break day of work, taking trip of faculty and taking time away from their family duties to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily of their communities."

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

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma bill would permit private residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a lady acquire an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been briefly 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 isn't set to take effect till this summer season, and legal experts say it's prone to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade choice still stays the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, according to knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were women from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma every month, the information reveals. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.