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 effectively finish availability of the procedure.

State lawmakers accepted the ban enforced by civil lawsuits fairly than legal prosecution, similar to a Texas law that was handed final 12 months. The regulation takes effect instantly upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion providers have mentioned they'll cease performing the procedure as quickly as the bill is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I'd signal every piece of pro-life laws that came across my desk and I am proud to maintain that promise immediately,” the first-term Republican stated in a statement. “From the moment life begins at conception is when now we have a accountability as human beings to do every part we will to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother. That's what I believe and that is what the vast majority of Oklahomans consider.”

Abortion suppliers across the nation have been bracing for the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s new conservative majority may further limit the follow, and that has especially been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The impression will likely be disastrous for Oklahomans,” mentioned Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It will even have severe ripple effects, especially for Texas sufferers who had been traveling to Oklahoma in giant numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into impact in September.”

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

The one exceptions within the Oklahoma regulation are to save lots of the lifetime of a pregnant girl or if the pregnancy is the results of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.

The invoice specifically authorizes docs to remove a “lifeless unborn little one brought on by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to remove an ectopic being pregnant, a doubtlessly life-threatening emergency that happens when a fertilized egg implants outdoors the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube and early in being pregnant.

The regulation also doesn't apply to the usage of morning-after tablets resembling Plan B or any kind 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's unclear what will happen to women who qualify underneath one of many exceptions. The legislation’s author, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says docs will be empowered to decide which girls qualify and that these abortions will be performed in hospitals. But providers and abortion-rights activists warn that making an attempt to prove qualification could prove tough and even dangerous in some circumstances.

Along with the Texas-style invoice already signed into regulation, the measure is considered one of a minimum of three anti-abortion bills despatched this yr to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s law is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas regulation that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to remain in place that enables personal residents to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a lady receive an abortion. Other 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

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