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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 May 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 docket will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be probably 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 docket that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect immediately along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new legislation is in effect, they will instantly cease providing providers for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the legislation is in impact, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a employees legal professional for the New York-based Middle 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 will still grant us relief."

The brand new law prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise might be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, before many ladies know they are pregnant. The same bill accepted in Texas final yr led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

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

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have usually handled sufferers who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking time off of work, taking outing of college and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

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

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma invoice would enable personal citizens 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 stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure shouldn't be set to take effect till this summer time, and legal consultants say it is more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade decision still stays the law of the land.

The variety of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in accordance with information from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas regulation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were women from Texas.

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