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

“I need Oklahoma to be probably 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 courtroom that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion nearly 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 briefly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the new law is in effect, they will immediately cease providing providers for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the regulation 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," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a employees lawyer for the New York-based Middle 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 Courtroom will still grant us aid."

The new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity could be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. A similar bill authorized in Texas final 12 months led to a dramatic reduction in the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, mentioned Texas' legislation that took impact in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe nation would possibly seem like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have recurrently treated patients who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking break day of work, taking day trip of school and taking time away from their household tasks to get the care that until September 2021 they had been capable of get safely and readily of 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.

Like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable non-public citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady acquire an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other 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 Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure isn't set to take effect till this summer time, and legal experts say it's more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision still stays the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last twenty years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in keeping with data from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma had been women from Texas.

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