Oklahoma Passes 2 Emergency Provision Acts Restricting Abortion

On Thursday, Oklahoma's far-right-led Congress approved two emergency disposal acts that greatly restrict pregnancy interruption.

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With 35 votes in favor and ten votes against, the local Assembly vetoed all abortions, except in a medical emergency, incest, or rape cases previously reported to the authorities.

The Lower House also approved a bill that forbids abortion as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected, which occurs approximately in the sixth week of gestation, and establishes rewards of up to US$10,000 to anyone who reports people who provide unauthorized abortion services.

Both acts will come into immediate effect once they are signed by governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican Party (RP) politician who has promised to sign any legislation limiting abortion.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the State has no right to intervene in women’s decisions about their pregnancy. Over the past two decades, several conservative states, such as Texas and now Oklahoma, have nevertheless imposed restrictions on abortion access.

Earlier this year, Stitt signed a bill classifying abortion as a felony. This measure, however, is likely not to resist appeals in the courts.

As soon as the emergency disposition bills were announced, a coalition of abortion providers and NGOs filed lawsuits to block them. “We have to save this service in this state, to which Texan women who want to interrupt their pregnancies have historically gone,” they argued.