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

“I need Oklahoma to be probably 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 high court docket that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion practically 50 years ago.

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the new legislation is in impact, they'll immediately cease offering providers for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now is because the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a employees lawyer for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within 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 as soon as cardiac activity may be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. An identical invoice accepted in Texas last year led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' legislation that took impact in September has given their employees an idea of what a post-Roe country might appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've regularly handled patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time off of work, taking day out of college and taking time away from their family responsibilities to get the care that until September 2021 they were capable of get safely and readily of their communities."

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

Like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would permit personal citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a girl receive an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure isn't set to take effect until this summer, and authorized consultants say it is more likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade determination still stays the law of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, based on knowledge from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma have been ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma every month, the information exhibits. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.