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 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 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 in 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 is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion practically 50 years in the past.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact instantly with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the invoice. Abortion providers say now that the new law is in impact, they will immediately stop offering providers for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“While the legislation is in effect, which it now is because the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a employees legal professional for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will still grant us relief."

The brand new law prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac activity will be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, before many ladies know they're pregnant. A similar invoice accredited in Texas final yr led to a dramatic reduction in the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, stated Texas' law that took effect in September has given their workers an idea of what a post-Roe nation would possibly appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have frequently handled patients who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking day off of labor, taking day trip of college and taking time away from their household duties to get the care that till September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if carried out as the results of a medical emergency, however there are not any exceptions if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma bill would permit private residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a girl obtain 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 Court.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure isn't set to take effect till this summer time, and legal experts say it's more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade decision still stays the law of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, according to knowledge from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas regulation was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been girls from Texas.

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