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 pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 Could 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 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 high court docket that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

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

“Whereas the regulation is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks can be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney for the New York-based Center 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 Courtroom will still grant us aid."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise could be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. An identical invoice accredited in Texas last year led to a dramatic reduction within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, mentioned Texas' legislation that took impact in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe nation might look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've repeatedly treated patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking day off of work, taking day out of college and taking time away from their family duties to get the care that till September 2021 they have been able to get safely and readily of their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the results of a medical emergency, however there are not any exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would permit non-public residents to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a girl get hold of an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure is just not set to take effect till this summer season, and legal specialists say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision still remains the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last two decades, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in keeping 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 women from Texas.

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