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 being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Related Press

3 Might 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, a part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court docket will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state within the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

Stitt's signing of the invoice comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's excessive court docket that it's considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion practically 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact instantly together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the new regulation is in effect, they are going to instantly stop offering services for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the law is in effect, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a staff lawyer for the New York-based Heart for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will still grant us relief."

The brand new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise can be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they are pregnant. An analogous bill permitted in Texas final yr led to a dramatic discount within the variety of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, said Texas' regulation that took impact in September has given their workers an concept of what a post-Roe country would possibly look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have repeatedly treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking day off of work, taking time out of school and taking time away from their family tasks to get the care that till September 2021 they were able to get safely and readily of their communities."

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

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would allow personal citizens to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a lady get hold of an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this year signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure isn't set to take impact until this summer, and authorized consultants say it's likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the legislation of the land.

The variety of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in response to data from the Oklahoma State Division of Health. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma have been ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma every month, the info shows. That number jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.