The Oklahoma House approved a Republican bill on Thursday that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The law will take effect immediately, cutting off access to patients from Texas who have been flooded in Oklahoma since a similar law was passed there last fall. In anticipation of the long-awaited US Supreme Court ruling on abortion expected this summer, the Oklahoma measure shows that states do not expect the Supreme Court to overturn the landmark Roe vs. Wade a decision securing abortion rights before restricting the procedure within their borders. The Oklahoma bill is based on the restrictive Texas ban, which has avoided court intervention with a new legal strategy that empowers individuals to enforce the law. The bill, which includes exceptions to medical emergencies, but not rape or incest, the Oklahoma Senate cleared in March. It now goes to Governor Kevin Stitt (R), who is expected to sign it and it will take effect with his signature. The vote of the Parliament was 68-12. “Oklahoma is a very supportive state of life and we want to protect the Oklahoma preterm babies that are in the world,” said state spokesman Todd Russ (R), who wrote the legislation. The measure would immediately cut most access to abortion in a state that has absorbed nearly half of Texas patients who have been forced to leave their state for abortion under Texas law. Several Oklahoma clinics have stopped scheduling abortions pending the bill. The other clinics are ready to close at any time. “It was almost impossible to plan,” said Andrea Gallegos, executive director at Tulsa Women’s Clinic, an independent abortion clinic that has pledged to continue providing abortions until Stitt signs the bill. “We have a full schedule.” Stitt signed another abortion ban earlier this month that makes abortion a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. However, abortion rights advocates in Oklahoma see this latest Texas-type ban as a much more immediate threat than its predecessor, which is not scheduled to take effect before the summer. The latest abortion ban will also be more difficult to challenge in court because of the innovative enforcement mechanism behind the Texas ban, which authorizes individuals to enforce the law through civil lawsuits and has so far allowed Texas law to avoid judicial intervention. Another abortion ban, also designed under Texas law, which would outlaw the process, is also scheduled to be passed in the Oklahoma House on Thursday. This bill is also widely expected to be passed. Okla lawmakers approve bill that makes abortion illegal Oklahoma lawmakers say the anti-abortion law turmoil is partly a reaction to the recent increase in patients in Texas. Of the thousands of Texas patients who traveled abroad for abortions from September to December, 45% went to Oklahoma, according to a recent study from the University of Texas at Austin. “There is a state of emergency in Oklahoma,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R), the Senate leader who introduced the six-week period. ban, citing the number of abortions that have taken place in Oklahoma since Texas enacted its law. “It’s disgusting,” Treat said. “And that is why we are making every effort to change our laws.” Several states are not awaiting a Supreme Court ruling this summer. Kentucky’s two abortion clinics stopped aborting for a week in mid-April after Republican lawmakers approved a sweeping package of abortion restrictions that clinics said made it impossible for them to continue abortion care. by the courts. And lawmakers in 13 states, including Oklahoma, have introduced their own versions of Texas law, which could take effect regardless of the Supreme Court ruling this summer. Many anti-abortion lawmakers see the Texas strategy as a promising step forward, despite widespread criticism from lawyers that it reduces the power of the courts. Since September, the Supreme Court has taken three chances to overturn the Texas ban, a move that some Republicans have interpreted as a green light for such legislation. In Missouri, for example, state lawmaker Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R) said she recently felt optimistic about the prospects for the Texas abortion ban she had proposed after the Supreme Court announced its decision in December to uphold the Texas law. . “I thought, ‘Okay, my bill has legs,’” Coleman said of her measure. Apart from Oklahoma, Idaho is the only other state that has successfully passed a Texas-type ban, although several others, including Coleman’s in Missouri, are still in the legislature. The Idaho Act, which was due to take effect April 22 after being signed by Governor Brad Little (R), has been temporarily suspended by the state Supreme Court pending further review. Planned Parenthood plans to file a lawsuit against Oklahoma’s latest ban. While the Texas abortion ban was heard by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, widely known as the most conservative district court in the country, the Oklahoma ban will continue from the 10th Circuit, where judges may be more critical of the law. “Unless these bans are blocked, patients will be prevented, people seeking abortion will not be able to access the necessary care in their communities and loved ones may stop supporting them for fear of being sued. », Alexis McGill Johnson. President of the Planned Parenthood of America Federation, wrote in a statement. Texas Patient Shelter, Oklahoma Clinics Prepare for Abortion Ban
