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 Related Press

3 Could 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, 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 the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

Stitt's signing of the invoice 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 determination that legalized abortion practically 50 years in the past.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact immediately along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the invoice. Abortion providers say now that the new law is in impact, they will immediately cease providing services for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks might be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Middle 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 will still grant us reduction."

The brand new legislation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise can be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. An analogous invoice authorised in Texas final yr led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the procedure.

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

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've often handled patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time off of labor, taking day out of school and taking time away from their household tasks to get the care that till September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, but there aren't any exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would permit personal citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket 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, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure will not be set to take effect till this summer, and authorized specialists say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade choice still stays the law of the land.

The number of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily during the last twenty years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, according to data from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been women from Texas.

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