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 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, 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 the most pro-life state within the country," 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 excessive court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

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

“While the legislation is in impact, which it now is as a result of the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks might be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a workers legal professional for the New York-based Center 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 will still grant us aid."

The new legislation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity might be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they are pregnant. An identical bill accepted in Texas final year led to a dramatic discount in the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, mentioned Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their employees an concept of what a post-Roe nation might look like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've often handled patients who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking day without work of labor, taking trip of college and taking time away from their household duties to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there are no exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

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

Stitt earlier this yr signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure is not set to take effect till this summer season, and legal specialists say it is more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade choice nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out every year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the last 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in response to information from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were girls from Texas.

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