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 Might 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, 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 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 high courtroom that it's contemplating weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion nearly 50 years in the past.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect instantly together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the new regulation is in impact, they may immediately cease providing services for ladies after six weeks of pregnancy.

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

The new legislation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise 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. A similar bill accredited in Texas final year led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, stated Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe country might seem like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have frequently handled sufferers who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden said. “They’re taking day off of work, taking time out of faculty and taking time away from their household obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they had been capable of 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 being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma bill would allow private residents to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a girl receive an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily 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, but that measure isn't set to take effect till this summer time, and authorized specialists say it is prone to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade determination nonetheless remains 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 twenty years, 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 Department of Health. In 2020, earlier than the Texas regulation was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

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