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 Related Press

3 Could 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 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 want Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state within the nation," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the invoice comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high court docket that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion practically 50 years in the past.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect immediately along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the new legislation is in effect, they'll immediately cease offering companies for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the legislation is in impact, which it now is because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks can be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will nonetheless grant us relief."

The brand new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise can be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, before many ladies know they are pregnant. A similar bill accredited in Texas final 12 months led to a dramatic discount within 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 Great Plains, stated Texas' law that took effect in September has given their staff an idea of what a post-Roe nation would possibly appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have often handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking break day of work, taking time out of faculty and taking time away from their household obligations to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there aren't any exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would enable personal citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a girl receive an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to remain in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this year signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure isn't set to take effect until this summer time, and authorized experts say it's likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless remains the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily during the last 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in accordance with information from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been girls from Texas.

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