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 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 pregnancy, 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 the most pro-life state within the country," 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 high court docket that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact immediately 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 new law is in impact, they'll immediately stop providing providers for ladies after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the law is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will nonetheless grant us aid."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. An analogous bill permitted in Texas last yr led to a dramatic discount within 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' legislation that took effect in September has given their workers an idea of what a post-Roe country may appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have frequently treated sufferers who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking day off of work, taking day out of college and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that until September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the results of a medical emergency, but there are no exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would enable personal residents to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady get hold of an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to remain in place, different Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure is just not set to take impact till this summer time, and legal consultants say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the law of the land.

The variety of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in response to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

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