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 Might 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 would like Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state within the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high court that it's considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect immediately along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new regulation is in impact, they'll instantly stop offering companies for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the regulation is in effect, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a employees lawyer for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will still grant us relief."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac activity may be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, before many ladies know they are pregnant. The same invoice authorised in Texas last yr led to a dramatic reduction within the variety 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 Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, stated Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their staff an idea of what a post-Roe country might appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've frequently treated patients who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time without work of work, taking day out of school and taking time away from their family 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 results of a medical emergency, however there are no exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would permit personal residents to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady get hold of an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom 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 Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this year signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure is just not set to take impact until this summer time, and authorized specialists say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade choice still remains the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out annually 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 keeping with information from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma have been women from Texas.

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