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

“I need Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state within the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

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

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

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now could be because 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 suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will nonetheless grant us reduction."

The new law prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise could be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. The same invoice accredited in Texas last yr led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, said Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe nation may appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have recurrently treated sufferers who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking time without work of work, taking time out of faculty and taking time away from their household responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they had been able to get safely and readily of their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if carried out as the results of a medical emergency, however there are no exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would allow personal residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a girl receive an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to repeat 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 invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure shouldn't be set to take effect until this summer season, and authorized experts say it's prone to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless remains the law of the land.

The variety of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last two decades, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in line with knowledge from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were girls from Texas.

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