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 Might 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 will uphold new restrictions.

“I need Oklahoma to be 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 excessive court that it's considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion almost 50 years in the past.

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 bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new law is in impact, they may immediately stop offering services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks shall be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Heart 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 reduction."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise will be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, before many women know they're pregnant. A similar invoice permitted in Texas last yr led to a dramatic discount within the variety of abortions performed 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, stated Texas' law that took effect in September has given their employees an concept of what a post-Roe country might appear to be.

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

The invoice authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, however there are no exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma invoice would enable non-public residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a girl acquire an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure just isn't set to take impact until this summer season, and authorized consultants say it is likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade choice nonetheless remains the regulation 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 response to knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, before the Texas legislation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been girls from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma each month, the information reveals. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.