Lawmakers in Oklahoma on Tuesday authorised a near-total ban on abortion, making it the most recent Republican-led state to forge forward with stringent abortion laws because the Supreme Courtroom weighs a case that might overturn Roe v. Wade later this 12 months.
The measure, Senate Invoice 612, would make performing an abortion “besides to avoid wasting the lifetime of a pregnant lady in a medical emergency” a felony punishable by as much as 10 years in jail.
The Oklahoma Home voted 70 to 14 to ship the invoice, which handed the Senate final 12 months, to Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who promised in September to signal “every bit of pro-life laws” that got here to his desk.
Its passage got here after Oklahoma grew to become a significant vacation spot for girls from Texas who have been searching for abortions after that state enacted a legislation banning the process after about six weeks, a really early stage of being pregnant.
“If allowed to take impact, S.B. 612 can be devastating for each Oklahomans and Texans who proceed to hunt care in Oklahoma,” mentioned Tamya Cox-Touré, government director of the A.C.L.U. of Oklahoma.
“Almost half of the sufferers Oklahoma suppliers are at present seeing are medical refugees from Texas,” Ms. Cox-Touré mentioned in a press release. “Now, Oklahomans may face a future the place they might don’t have any place left of their state to go to hunt this fundamental well being care.”
It is a creating story.
Supply: NY Times
