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 Associated Press

3 May 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 Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in 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 excessive court docket that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact immediately along 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 law is in impact, they are going to immediately stop offering providers for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the regulation is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers attorney for the New York-based Middle 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 will still grant us aid."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity might be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. An identical bill authorized in Texas last yr led to a dramatic discount in the number of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their employees an concept of what a post-Roe nation may seem like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have repeatedly handled sufferers who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden stated. “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 have been capable of get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there are no exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma bill would allow non-public citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman get hold of 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 copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this year signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure just isn't set to take impact till this summer, and legal consultants say it is likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade choice still remains the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past two decades, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in accordance with knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas regulation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the data shows. That number jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.