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, a part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state within the nation," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

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

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the new regulation is in effect, they'll instantly stop offering services for girls after six weeks of being pregnant.

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

The new regulation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise may be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many women know they're pregnant. The same bill authorized in Texas last 12 months led to a dramatic reduction within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, stated Texas' legislation that took impact in September has given their employees an thought of what a post-Roe country might appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've repeatedly handled patients who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking day off of labor, taking time out of school and taking time away from their household duties to get the care that until September 2021 they have been able to get safely and readily of their communities."

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

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma invoice would permit personal citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court 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 quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure just isn't set to take impact until this summer, and legal specialists say it's prone to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in keeping with knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies 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.