Oklahoma Passes Texas-Style Abortion Ban
The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a new bill to curtail abortion in the state after about six weeks of pregnancy, along the lines of a Texas law made controversial for its novel legal techniques of private enforcement of the legislation.
The bill, SB 1503 or the Oklahoma Heartbeat Act, would prohibit any abortion procedure in the state once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which experts say is six weeks into pregnancy. After that point, anyone who helps a woman abort a pregnancy may be sued for up to $10,000 per abortion, per the law.
Abortion providers have claimed that that the law will end most abortion in the state, as most women are unaware of their pregnancies before the prohibition takes effect.
After being reported out of committee, the bill was immediately approved by the House in a vote of 68-12. The measure will take effect immediately once signed, as the state senate
Republican Governor Kevin Stitt had previously said that he would sign any abortion restriction that reaches his desk and is expected to sign the bill shortly.
Texas last year became the first state to create a tort whereby citizens could sue abortion providers.
Jessica Arons, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties’ Union, had called the Texas law America’s “most extreme abortion ban.” That bill, termed the ‘Texas Heartbeat Act’, was the subject of failed legal challenges by pro-choice groups, including the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
In March of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case with a temporary stay. On April 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ordered all challenges to the law dismissed.
“There is nothing left, this case is effectively over with respect to our challenge to the abortion ban,” said Marc Hearron, an attorney challenging the bill.
Those decisions inspired Republicans and pro-life activists in Oklahoma to proceed with similar legislation, which legislators in Arkansas, Florida, South Dakota, Idaho, and Indiana have said they will also attempt to replicate.
“It’s identical to the bill that was enacted by the Texas Legislature last year, and that bill has passed muster with the U.S. Supreme Court…we are hopeful it will save the lives of more unborn children here,” said Tony Lauinger, the chairman of Oklahomans for Life.
After the Texas law took effect, abortion clinics in Oklahoma had seen huge increases in patients, some upwards of 800 percent, as out-of-state patients from Texas sought abortions. This new law is expected to end that surge.
The Oklahoma law also follows another measure enacted by the Oklahoma legislature earlier this month, SB 612, which made performing an abortion or providing abortion services – except to save the life of the mother – a criminal offence in the state.
Once the law takes effect later this year, anyone convicted of providing an abortion will face up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. The bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Jim Olson, a Republican, has said “”The penalties are for the doctor, not for the woman.”
