Oklahoma governor indicators 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 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 pregnancy, 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 invoice.

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 considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

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

“Whereas the legislation is in impact, which it now is as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a workers 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 will nonetheless grant us relief."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many women know they're pregnant. A similar invoice approved in Texas final 12 months led to a dramatic discount in the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, said Texas' regulation that took impact in September has given their employees an concept of what a post-Roe country may look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've often handled patients who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time without work of labor, taking outing of faculty and taking time away from their family tasks to get the care that till September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily of their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, but there are not any exceptions if the being pregnant is the results of rape or incest.

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma invoice would enable private residents to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a lady get hold of an abortion for as much as $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 primary copycat measure in March, although it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure is not set to take impact until this summer, and authorized experts say it is more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution still remains the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in line with information from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, 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 ladies from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the data reveals. That number jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.