Oklahoma governor signs the nation’s strictest abortion ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed into legislation the nation’s strictest abortion ban, making the state the primary in the nation to successfully end availability of the process.

State lawmakers authorized the ban enforced by civil lawsuits slightly than prison prosecution, much like a Texas law that was passed last 12 months. The legislation takes effect immediately upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion providers have mentioned they are going to stop performing the procedure as quickly because the invoice is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I'd sign each piece of pro-life laws that came throughout my desk and I'm proud to keep that promise as we speak,” the first-term Republican mentioned in a statement. “From the moment life begins at conception is when we have now a accountability as human beings to do the whole lot we can to guard that baby’s life and the life of the mother. That's what I imagine and that's what nearly all of Oklahomans imagine.”

Abortion providers across the nation have been bracing for the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court’s new conservative majority might further prohibit the practice, and that has particularly been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The affect can be disastrous for Oklahomans,” stated Elizabeth Nash, a state coverage analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It can even have severe ripple results, especially for Texas sufferers who had been touring to Oklahoma in massive numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into effect in September.”

The payments are part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states to cut back abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s high court docket that implies justices are contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The only exceptions within the Oklahoma law are to save the lifetime of a pregnant lady or if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest that has been reported to legislation enforcement.

The invoice particularly authorizes docs to remove a “lifeless unborn baby brought on by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to take away an ectopic pregnancy, a doubtlessly life-threatening emergency that occurs when a fertilized egg implants exterior the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube and early in pregnancy.

The law also does not apply to the usage of morning-after drugs corresponding to Plan B or any type of contraception.

Two of Oklahoma’s 4 abortion clinics already stopped providing abortions after the governor signed a six-week ban earlier this month.

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics anticipated to cease offering services, it is unclear what is going to occur to girls who qualify under one of the exceptions. The law’s writer, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says docs will be empowered to decide which girls qualify and that these abortions will probably be carried out in hospitals. But suppliers and abortion-rights activists warn that making an attempt to prove qualification may prove difficult and even harmful in some circumstances.

Along with the Texas-style invoice already signed into law, the measure is one of at least three anti-abortion payments sent this year to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s legislation is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas regulation that the U.S. Supreme Court docket has allowed to remain in place that enables personal residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a lady receive an abortion. Different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom

The third Oklahoma invoice is to take impact this summer and would make it a felony to carry out an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in jail. That bill incorporates no exceptions for rape or incest.