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 pregnancy

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 pregnancy, 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 the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

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 practically 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact instantly along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the invoice. Abortion providers say now that the brand new legislation is in impact, they'll instantly stop providing companies for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the law is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks can be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a workers lawyer for the New York-based Heart 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 will still grant us relief."

The brand new law prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity might be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many ladies know they are pregnant. The same bill authorized in Texas final yr led to a dramatic discount in the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their employees an concept of what a post-Roe nation might appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've recurrently treated patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking time off of work, taking time out of college and taking time away from their family responsibilities 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 performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there are not any exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would allow private residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a lady get hold of an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom allowed that mechanism to remain in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure is not set to take effect until this summer season, and authorized consultants say it is more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade choice still remains the law of the land.

The number of abortions performed every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, according to information from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, before the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the information shows. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.