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 pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Related Press

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

“I need Oklahoma to be probably the most pro-life state in the nation," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high courtroom that it is contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion practically 50 years in the past.

The bill Stitt signed takes impact immediately along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the new law is in effect, they'll instantly cease offering services for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the legislation is in effect, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks can be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a employees attorney for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion providers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will nonetheless grant us relief."

The brand new law prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise can be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. The same invoice accepted in Texas last year led to a dramatic discount within the number of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other 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 staff an thought of what a post-Roe country would possibly appear to be.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have often handled sufferers who're fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time off of work, taking day trip of school and taking time away from their family duties to get the care that until September 2021 they were in a position to get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if performed as the results of a medical emergency, however there aren't any exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would enable private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a girl get hold of an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Courtroom.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure just isn't set to take effect until this summer, and authorized consultants say it is likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade choice nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions performed every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last two decades, from more 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 Well being. In 2020, before the Texas law was handed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma have been ladies from Texas.

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