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 pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Related 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 being pregnant, a part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court docket 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 bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's excessive court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the new legislation is in effect, they will immediately cease offering providers for girls after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the regulation is in impact, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks might be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will still grant us aid."

The brand new law prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity might be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. An identical bill authorised in Texas final yr led to a dramatic discount within the number 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 Planned Parenthood Great Plains, stated Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their employees an idea of what a post-Roe nation would possibly appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've repeatedly treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking time without work of work, taking day trip of faculty and taking time away from their family tasks to get the care that until September 2021 they had been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the results of a medical emergency, but there are no exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable private citizens to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a lady receive an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to remain in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this year signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure isn't set to take impact until this summer time, and legal experts say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in line with data from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been girls from Texas.

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