Oklahoma governor signs the nation’s strictest abortion ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed into legislation the nation’s strictest abortion ban, making the state the first within the nation to successfully end availability of the procedure.

State lawmakers approved the ban enforced by civil lawsuits quite than legal prosecution, much like a Texas legislation that was passed last year. The legislation takes impact instantly upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion providers have stated they will cease performing the procedure as quickly as the invoice is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would signal every piece of pro-life legislation that got here throughout my desk and I'm proud to keep that promise at the moment,” the first-term Republican mentioned in a statement. “From the second life begins at conception is when we've got a accountability as human beings to do every part we are able to to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother. That is what I consider and that is what the majority of Oklahomans believe.”

Abortion suppliers across the country have been bracing for the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s new conservative majority might further prohibit the observe, and that has particularly been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The influence can be disastrous for Oklahomans,” stated Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It'll even have extreme ripple effects, particularly for Texas patients who had been traveling to Oklahoma in giant numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into impact in September.”

The bills are part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states to reduce abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s excessive court docket that suggests justices are contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The one exceptions within the Oklahoma regulation are to save the life of a pregnant lady or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to legislation enforcement.

The invoice specifically authorizes doctors to take away a “dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to remove an ectopic pregnancy, a probably life-threatening emergency that occurs when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube and early in being pregnant.

The legislation also doesn't apply to using morning-after pills corresponding to Plan B or any type of contraception.

Two of Oklahoma’s 4 abortion clinics already stopped offering abortions after the governor signed a six-week ban earlier this month.

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics expected to stop providing services, it's unclear what will occur to women who qualify underneath one of many exceptions. The regulation’s creator, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says medical doctors will be empowered to resolve which girls qualify and that these abortions might be performed in hospitals. But suppliers and abortion-rights activists warn that trying to show qualification could prove difficult and even harmful in some circumstances.

Along with the Texas-style bill already signed into regulation, the measure is considered one of a minimum of three anti-abortion bills despatched this 12 months to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s regulation is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas law that the U.S. Supreme Courtroom has allowed to stay in place that allows private citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a girl receive an abortion. Other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom

The third Oklahoma bill is to take impact this summer time and would make it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by as much as 10 years in prison. That invoice comprises no exceptions for rape or incest.