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

“I want Oklahoma to be probably the most pro-life state in the nation," 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 excessive court docket that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion practically 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect instantly along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new law is in impact, they are going to immediately stop offering providers for ladies after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the regulation is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks can be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a staff legal professional for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will nonetheless grant us reduction."

The brand new law prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity could be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, before many ladies know they're pregnant. An analogous invoice accredited in Texas last year led to a dramatic reduction in the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, mentioned Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their staff an thought of what a post-Roe country would possibly seem like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have usually handled patients who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking time off of work, taking time out of school and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they have been capable of get safely and readily in their communities."

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

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable personal citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman acquire an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been briefly 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, but that measure is just not set to take effect until this summer, and authorized consultants say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless remains the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, according to information from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were girls from Texas.

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