The Oklahoma legislature on Thursday approved a bill banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, a ban that could drastically reduce access to abortion not only for women in the state, but also for those who have crossed its borders to circumvent stricter anti-abortion laws. in the south.
The bill is a model for the one that went into effect in Texas in September. It prohibits abortion after fetal heartbeat, usually around six weeks of pregnancy, and requires civilian use, which allows them to prosecute any doctor who performs or causes an abortion, or anyone who “assists or assists” one. The bill spurs lawsuits by offering prizes of at least $ 10,000 to those who are successful.
Republican Gov. Kevin Steet signed a law this month banning abortion altogether, except to save the life of a pregnant woman “in emergency medical care,” and making the procedure a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $ 100,000 fine.
But until the law goes into effect by the end of August, the bill, which the legislature sent to Mr Steet’s office on Thursday, will take effect immediately if signed.
Planned Parenthood said at its Oklahoma clinic, the number of Texas patients had increased by 2,500 percent in the months since the state’s law came into force. Expecting the governor will sign the six-week bill, some clinics say they have stopped hiring patients because they expect to be overwhelmed by women facing new deadlines.
“It will be a mess for many of our patients,” said Emily Wells, interim president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “We already have too few meetings. Each time we receive a new schedule, it will be filled in a matter of hours. “
The clinic referred patients to clinics in Colorado and Illinois, she said. But with waiting periods and other restrictions already in place, “there are absolutely people who can’t understand logistics to go further.”
Mr Steet had laughed at the influx of new Texas patients when he signed the ban this month, suggesting that the US Highway Patrol could “arrest Texans crossing our border”.
“This bill will take care of that,” he said.
Mr Steet said he “wants Oklahoma to be the most professional state in the country”.
Despite an earlier injunction signed by the governor, the Republican-controlled legislature is considering several other measures against abortion, including one passed Thursday. The strategy is an attempt to put bans on top of each other and close all sorts of doors.
Oklahoma is also considering a bill that would ban abortion 30 days after a woman’s last menstrual cycle begins before many women find out they are pregnant. As the state has a 72-hour waiting period, this law would also effectively ban abortions.
The bill, passed on Thursday, will allow exceptions to save a mother’s life in emergency medical care and also provide an exception for pregnancies that result from rape or incest, as long as those crimes are reported to law enforcement.
U.S. Sen. Julie Daniels, a Republican and sponsor of the bill, said it would “save many innocent lives by acting as a deterrent to abortionists.”
The state of abortion in the United States
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Who has abortions in America? The typical patient is probably already a mother, poor, unmarried, in her late 20s, has a university degree and is in a very early pregnancy. Teenagers today have far fewer abortions. Nearly half of abortions occur in the first six weeks of pregnancy and almost all in the first trimester.
Where do most abortions take place? According to a 2017 census of abortion providers, the largest U.S. share of abortions was in California, 15.4 percent, followed by New York with 12.2 percent. The third highest state is Florida with 8.2 percent.
What will happen if Rowe v. Wade is overturned? Abortion will remain legal in more than half of the states, but not in much of the Midwest and South. While some women will be able to travel outside the state or rely on abortion pills, many lower-income groups may not have access.
The new laws are in the form of Rowe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing a constitutional right to abortion. But they are in line with a trend in other states because of the expectation that a conservative majority in court will overturn or significantly reduce Roe’s decision by the summer.
Roe forbids states to ban abortion before the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is now about 23 weeks pregnant. The court is now considering a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and in oral disputes in December, a majority of judges signaled they would support it.
The United States was encouraged by Texas law, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to block. The court said that because civil servants are not responsible for enforcing the law, it cannot be challenged in federal court on the basis of constitutional protection established by Roe. In March, the Texas Supreme Court also refused to block the law, saying its hands were tied by the requirement for civil law enforcement.
In March, Idaho became the first state to pass such a ban. But the Idaho Supreme Court suspended the law after Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit to stop it, arguing that the law undermines confidentiality.
On Thursday, a coalition of abortion providers in Oklahoma filed lawsuits against the Texas-style bill, which was passed, as well as an earlier ban scheduled to take effect in August.
Ms Wales, president of Planned Parenthood, said the Idaho Supreme Court ruling had given the coalition some hope that it could block the bill in Oklahoma.
A spokeswoman for Mr Steet declined to comment on Thursday, writing in an email that his office “does not comment on pending legislation”. But the governor has said before that he will sign any anti-abortion legislation that passes through his office.
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