Oklahoma governor indicators 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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 Might 2022, 23:03

• 4 min read

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 Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be probably the most pro-life state in the country," 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 courtroom that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the new regulation is in effect, they will immediately stop providing services for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the law is in impact, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks can be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will still grant us relief."

The new legislation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise can be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. The same bill accepted in Texas final 12 months led to a dramatic discount in the number of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' law that took impact in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe country might appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have commonly treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time without work of labor, taking outing of college and taking time away from their family duties to get the care that till September 2021 they were in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

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

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma bill would allow private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a girl obtain an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure will not be set to take impact until this summer time, and legal specialists say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless remains the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out annually in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, based on knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, before the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were girls from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the information reveals. That number jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.