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 Associated 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 in 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 resolution that legalized abortion practically 50 years in the past.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect instantly together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the brand new legislation is in effect, they'll instantly cease providing services for girls after six weeks of being pregnant.

“While the regulation is in effect, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks can 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 within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will still grant us reduction."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac activity will be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they are pregnant. A similar bill authorized in Texas final 12 months led to a dramatic reduction within the variety 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 Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' legislation that took effect in September has given their workers an thought of what a post-Roe country would possibly seem like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have usually handled patients who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking day off of work, taking trip of faculty and taking time away from their household tasks to get the care that until September 2021 they have been capable of get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out as the results of a medical emergency, but there aren't any exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would enable non-public residents 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 allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this year signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure will not be set to take effect till this summer, and authorized specialists say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the law of the land.

The variety of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily during the last 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, based on 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 girls from Texas.

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