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 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 being pregnant, a part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court docket will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be probably the most pro-life state in the country," 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 considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new law is in impact, they may instantly stop offering providers for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

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

The brand new law prohibits abortions once cardiac activity may be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. The same bill authorised in Texas final yr led to a dramatic discount 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, said Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their employees an idea of what a post-Roe nation would possibly appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've commonly handled sufferers who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking day off of work, taking time out of school and taking time away from their family duties to get the care that until September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there are not 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 woman obtain an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom 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, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure just isn't set to take effect till this summer season, and legal consultants say it is more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision still stays the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions carried out each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past two decades, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in accordance with data from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma have been ladies from Texas.

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