Oklahoma governor signs the nation’s strictest abortion ban

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

State lawmakers accepted the ban enforced by civil lawsuits somewhat than felony prosecution, much like a Texas legislation that was handed last 12 months. The legislation takes effect instantly upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion suppliers have said they'll stop performing the process as quickly as the invoice is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would signal every piece of pro-life laws that got here throughout my desk and I am proud to keep that promise right this moment,” the first-term Republican mentioned in a statement. “From the second life begins at conception is when we now have a responsibility as human beings to do all the pieces we can to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother. That is what I imagine and that's what nearly all of Oklahomans imagine.”

Abortion providers throughout the nation have been bracing for the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s new conservative majority would possibly further restrict the follow, and that has particularly been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The affect will probably be disastrous for Oklahomans,” said Elizabeth Nash, a state coverage analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It is going to also have extreme ripple results, especially for Texas sufferers who had been touring to Oklahoma in large numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into effect in September.”

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

The one exceptions in the Oklahoma regulation are to save the lifetime of a pregnant woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.

The invoice specifically authorizes doctors to remove a “lifeless unborn baby caused by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to take away an ectopic being pregnant, a probably life-threatening emergency that occurs when a fertilized egg implants exterior the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube and early in being pregnant.

The regulation also doesn't apply to using morning-after capsules akin to Plan B or any type of contraception.

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

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics expected to stop offering providers, it's unclear what is going to happen to girls who qualify under one of the exceptions. The regulation’s creator, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says docs can be empowered to decide which ladies qualify and that these abortions can be performed in hospitals. But providers and abortion-rights activists warn that trying to show qualification may show tough and even dangerous in some circumstances.

In addition to the Texas-style invoice already signed into regulation, the measure is one among at the least three anti-abortion payments sent this yr to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s regulation is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas law that the U.S. Supreme Courtroom has allowed to stay in place that enables non-public citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a lady obtain an abortion. Other Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom

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