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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 May 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 being pregnant, 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 within the nation," 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'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 impact immediately together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new law is in impact, they are going to instantly stop providing providers for girls after six weeks of being pregnant.

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

The brand new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity could be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they're pregnant. A similar invoice permitted in Texas last 12 months led to a dramatic discount in the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, mentioned Texas' law that took impact in September has given their staff an idea of what a post-Roe nation might appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've commonly handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking break day of labor, taking time out of school and taking time away from their household responsibilities to get the care that till September 2021 they have been able to get safely and readily of their communities."

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

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma bill would allow non-public citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a girl acquire 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 copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though 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, but that measure shouldn't be set to take effect until this summer time, and legal experts say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions carried out annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily during the last 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, according to information from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas law was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were women from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the data reveals. That number jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.