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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Associated 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 pregnancy, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

Stitt's signing of the invoice comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's excessive courtroom that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

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 law is in effect, they'll instantly cease offering companies for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the legislation is in impact, which it now is as a result of the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks might be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will still grant us reduction."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise may be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, before many women know they are pregnant. An identical invoice accepted in Texas final yr led to a dramatic reduction within the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, mentioned Texas' legislation that took impact in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe country may look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have frequently handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time without work of labor, taking trip of school and taking time away from their household responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they had been able to get safely and readily of their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, however there are not any exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would permit non-public residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a lady obtain an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other 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 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure isn't set to take effect till this summer, and legal experts say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless remains the law of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out each year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last two decades, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been ladies from Texas.

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