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 pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Related 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 pregnancy, a part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be probably the most pro-life state in the nation," 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's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect immediately together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new regulation is in effect, they may instantly cease offering providers for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the legislation is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks might be largely unavailable," mentioned 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, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will nonetheless grant us aid."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise might be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, before many ladies know they are pregnant. A similar bill accredited in Texas final 12 months led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, mentioned Texas' law that took impact in September has given their workers an concept of what a post-Roe country would possibly appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have frequently handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking day without work of work, taking outing of school and taking time away from their household responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily in their communities."

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

Just like the Texas law, the Oklahoma invoice would permit non-public residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman receive an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure isn't set to take effect until this summer, and authorized specialists say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade determination nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past twenty years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, based on data from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas law was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma each month, the info exhibits. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.