Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill on Tuesday that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, immediately outlawing almost all abortions in the state. The move came as anger grew over a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court would strike down abortion rights nationally, which President Joe Biden called “radical”.
The law, passed by the Republican-led legislature, relies on private citizens to sue providers or anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after six weeks to be enforced. It is modeled after a Texas law that has withstood legal challenges since it took effect in that state in September.
The ban, one of several anti-abortion bills Oklahoma lawmakers approved this session in hopes that at least one will withstand legal challenges, takes immediate effect with the Republican governor’s signature. The Oklahoma Supreme Court earlier in the day declined to block its enforcement pending the outcome of litigation challenging it.
“I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country because I represent all four million Oklahomans who overwhelmingly want to protect the unborn,” Stitt said on Twitter.
The US Supreme Court appears ready to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide, according to a leaked draft of the majority opinion published by Politico on Monday. That would allow states to decide whether to restrict abortion access.
“This moment is dark. Last night, our fears about the fate of abortion rights at the US Supreme Court were confirmed – and today, Oklahomans are faced with an immediate loss of abortion access,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.
President Joe Biden denounced the expected move as “radical” as Democrats in Washington and in statehouses scrambled to try to find a response to defend a right that women in the United States have held for almost half a century.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Biden said he hoped the draft wouldn't be finalised by justices, contending it reflects a “fundamental shift in American jurisprudence" that threatens “other basic rights” like access to birth control and marriage.
“If this decision holds, it’s really quite a radical decision,” he added.
“If the court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose,” Biden said. “And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November. At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.”
‘As urgent and real as it gets’
Though past efforts have failed, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he intended to hold a vote.
“This is as urgent and real as it gets,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Every American is going to see on which side every senator stands.”
Speaking at the EMILY’s List political action committee conference Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said the draft opinion showed “women’s rights in America are under attack".
“Women’s issues are America’s issues and democracies cannot be strong if the rights of women are under attack,” she added. “Let us fight with everything we’ve got.”
Leaders in New York and California rolled out the welcome mat to their states for women seeking abortions, and other Democratic states moved to protect access to abortion in their laws.
Protests were held, or planned, in US cities coast to coast, including Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, as the national Women’s March organisation urged supporters to bring families and signs to “courthouses and federal buildings everywhere” promoting the social media hashtag #BansOffOurBodies.
The Supreme Court itself became the epicentre for some of the earliest protests on both sides of the issue after the surprise publication of the 98-page draft ruling, while one of the largest protests took place in New York City.
“We are now at the brink of collapse for something that is so fundamental and needed for half the population,” one New York protester told FRANCE 24.
“I know people who died, I know people who had septic abortions – we can’t go through that again,” said another woman.
Some moderate Republicans were also dismayed by the draft ruling, but social conservatives were delighted even as they voiced anger that the opinion was leaked.
Republican lawmakers across the United States have been flooding statehouses with measures to curtail access in anticipation of the decision in the Mississippi case due by the end of June.
Oklahoma’s six-week ban, which outlaws abortion before many women know they are pregnant, allows exceptions for later-term abortions in medical emergency cases.
On April 28, the state Senate approved a separate near-total ban on abortion that makes exceptions only in cases of medical emergency, rape or incest, and also relies on civil lawsuits for enforcement. The bill would immediately go into effect if Stitt signs it after the House considers amendments made to its text.
Earlier in April, Stitt enacted yet another ban on nearly all abortions that threatens prison time for abortion providers. It is due to take effect in August.
Oklahoma’s new law will expand a swath of US southern states with little to no abortion access. Women in Texas have been traveling to Oklahoma to end pregnancies since Texas’ six-week ban took effect and will now have to go elsewhere if they want abortions past that gestational limit.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AP)
