Oklahoma governor signs the nation’s strictest abortion ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed into legislation the nation’s strictest abortion ban, making the state the first in the nation to effectively finish availability of the procedure.

State lawmakers accredited the ban enforced by civil lawsuits relatively than legal prosecution, similar to a Texas regulation that was passed final year. The law takes effect instantly upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion providers have said they are going to cease performing the procedure as quickly because the invoice is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I'd sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came throughout my desk and I'm proud to keep that promise right now,” the first-term Republican stated in a statement. “From the second life begins at conception is when we have a accountability as human beings to do every part we are able to to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother. That's what I believe and that is what nearly all of Oklahomans believe.”

Abortion providers across the country have been bracing for the chance that the U.S. Supreme Court’s new conservative majority might further prohibit the practice, and that has particularly been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The impression shall be disastrous for Oklahomans,” mentioned Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It will also have severe ripple effects, especially for Texas patients who had been touring to Oklahoma in large numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into impact in September.”

The bills are a part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states to cut back abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s high courtroom that means justices are contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

The one exceptions within the Oklahoma legislation are to save lots of the lifetime of a pregnant woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to regulation enforcement.

The bill particularly authorizes docs to remove a “lifeless unborn baby brought on by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to take away an ectopic being pregnant, a doubtlessly life-threatening emergency that occurs when a fertilized egg implants exterior the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube and early in being pregnant.

The regulation additionally does not apply to the usage of morning-after tablets comparable to Plan B or any kind of contraception.

Two of Oklahoma’s 4 abortion clinics already stopped providing abortions after the governor signed a six-week ban earlier this month.

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics expected to cease providing services, it is unclear what's going to occur to girls who qualify below one of the exceptions. The law’s author, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says doctors will likely be empowered to determine which ladies qualify and that these abortions shall be carried out in hospitals. However suppliers and abortion-rights activists warn that making an attempt to prove qualification may prove tough and even harmful in some circumstances.

Along with the Texas-style bill already signed into legislation, the measure is considered one of a minimum of three anti-abortion payments despatched this 12 months to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s law is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas legislation that the U.S. Supreme Court docket has allowed to stay in place that enables personal residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a lady receive an abortion. Other 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 docket

The third Oklahoma invoice is to take effect this summer time and would make it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by as much as 10 years in jail. That invoice contains no exceptions for rape or incest.