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 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 probably the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

Stitt's signing of the invoice comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high court 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 impact instantly along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the new regulation is in impact, they may immediately cease providing services for girls after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the regulation is in impact, which it now could be as a result of the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks will likely be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a staff lawyer for the New York-based Heart 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 docket will nonetheless grant us relief."

The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise might be detected in an embryo, which specialists say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, before many women know they're pregnant. A similar bill accredited in Texas last year led to a dramatic discount in the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the procedure.

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

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have regularly treated patients who are fleeing their communities to seek care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking day without work of labor, taking outing of school and taking time away from their family obligations to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if carried out 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 invoice would allow non-public citizens to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a lady get hold of an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to stay in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, although it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure will not be set to take effect until this summer season, and authorized consultants say it is likely to be blocked because the Roe v. Wade determination still stays the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions performed annually in Oklahoma, which has four 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, based on data from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas regulation was handed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma had been ladies from Texas.

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