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 pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Related Press

3 Might 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 docket 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 excessive courtroom that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion almost 50 years in the past.

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect instantly together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new legislation is in effect, they'll instantly cease offering companies for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the legislation is in impact, which it now is because the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks might be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Center 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 docket will still grant us aid."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac activity could be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they are pregnant. An identical invoice permitted in Texas final yr led to a dramatic discount within 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 effect in September has given their staff an thought of what a post-Roe nation would possibly appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have commonly treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time off of labor, taking time out of faculty and taking time away from their household duties to get the care that till September 2021 they have been capable of get safely and readily of their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the results of a medical emergency, but there aren't any exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would enable private residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a girl receive 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 repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure isn't set to take effect until this summer season, and authorized specialists say it's likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade decision still stays the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past twenty years, from greater 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 carried out in Oklahoma have been ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma every month, the info shows. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.