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

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

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

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect instantly together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new legislation is in effect, they will immediately cease providing services for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the regulation is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks can be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will nonetheless grant us aid."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, before many women know they're pregnant. An analogous bill permitted in Texas last year led to a dramatic discount within the number of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Nice Plains, said Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their staff an thought of what a post-Roe country would possibly appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have often treated sufferers who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time 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 capable of get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, but there aren't any exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable private citizens to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a lady acquire an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been temporarily 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 is not set to take impact till this summer, and authorized specialists say it is more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade determination still stays the legislation of the land.

The number of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past two decades, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, according to knowledge from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas regulation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were women from Texas.

Earlier than the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the data shows. That number jumped to 222 Texas women in September and 243 in October.