Abortions in Oklahoma more than six weeks into a pregnancy were outlawed Tuesday.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill which took effect immediately and was modeled off Texas’ draconian anti-abortion law. The only exceptions are for medical emergencies.
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“I am proud to sign SB 1503, the Oklahoma Heartbeat Act into law,” Stitt tweeted. “I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country.”
The Texas law effectively outlawed abortion in the state, because many women don’t even realize they’re pregnant six weeks into a pregnancy. Since September, Oklahoma has seen a significant increase in women from Texas seeking an abortion in the state.
Stitt, a Republican, and his like-minded colleagues in the state legislature went to work limiting access in their state, which only has four abortion providers. In early April, Oklahoma passed a bill criminalizing abortion, but that law won’t take effect until August, if it survives legal challenges.
Seeking a more immediate impact, the state government developed Tuesday’s bill, which immediately bans abortion after six weeks and allows anyone to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for up to $10,000.
Abortion rights advocates have promised legal challenges to both bills but will likely face uphill battles. The U.S. Supreme Court has already functionally upheld the Texas law.
And on Monday night, a draft opinion leaked in which the high court’s conservative majority vowed to entirely dismantle Roe v. Wade.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a first draft of the majority opinion repudiating the 1973 landmark case and its 1992 companion. The decision is not final until a formal opinion is released, likely in June or July.
While several Republican-led states have introduced anti-abortion legislation in 2022, only Idaho and Oklahoma have explicitly copied Texas’ gamechanging law. Idaho’s bill was blocked by the state’s supreme court. Meanwhile, Democratic-led Connecticut developed its own bill designed to counter the Texas law, hoping it could serve as a model for other liberal states.
With News Wire Services
