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 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 docket will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state within the nation," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

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

The invoice Stitt signed takes effect immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new regulation is in impact, they will immediately stop offering services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the law is in impact, which it now is because the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks shall be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a staff legal professional 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 will nonetheless grant us reduction."

The new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise may be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they're pregnant. An analogous invoice authorized in Texas last year led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions performed in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

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

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've usually handled patients who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking break day of labor, taking outing of school and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they were in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if carried out as the result of a medical emergency, but there are not any exceptions if the being pregnant is the results of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas law, the Oklahoma invoice would enable non-public residents to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a woman get hold of an abortion for as much as $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 first copycat measure in March, although it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure isn't set to take impact till this summer time, and authorized specialists say it's prone to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade decision nonetheless remains the law of the land.

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

Earlier than the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 girls from Texas had abortions performed in Oklahoma each month, the information exhibits. That number jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.