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 Related Press

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

“I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state within the nation," 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 courtroom that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion providers say now that the new law is in impact, they will immediately cease offering services for ladies after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the regulation is in effect, which it now's as a result of the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks shall be largely unavailable," said 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 nonetheless grant us aid."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity could be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they're pregnant. An analogous invoice permitted in Texas last yr led to a dramatic reduction within the variety 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' regulation 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 have frequently handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time without work of labor, taking outing of college and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily of their communities."

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

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would enable personal residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a girl get hold of 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 temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure shouldn't be set to take impact till this summer season, and authorized experts say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past twenty years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, according to data from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been ladies from Texas.

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