The vote was 70 to 14 as lawmakers added it to Monday night’s agenda, surprising some. There was a little discussion or debate. The bill, which was passed by the Senate last year, would make abortion a crime. Anyone convicted will face up to 10 years in prison and a $ 100,000 fine. The measure is addressed to Governor Kevin Stitt (R), who has signaled that he is open to signing anti-abortion legislation into law. The law makes an exception if the mother’s life is in danger. If not blocked by the courts, the bill is scheduled to take effect this summer, when the Oklahoma House of Representatives is suspended. Unlike many other abortion bans proposed in Oklahoma at this meeting, it does not include the emergency clause that allows a bill to take effect once it is signed by the governor. The future of the bill is likely to depend on a Supreme Court ruling expected this summer, when judges rule on a 15-week Mississippi abortion ban in a case that could be overturned or significantly reduced. Roe vs. Wadethe landmark decision of 1973 guaranteeing the right to abortion at national level. Follow up on new abortion legislation in all states In recent years, three states – Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma – have passed almost complete abortion bans, which have been ruled out by the courts because of the challenge they pose. Roe vs. Wade. But this latest bill, passed months or perhaps weeks after the Supreme Court ruled in the Mississippi case, is more likely to come into force. In oral hearings last year, Conservative judges, who have a 6-3 majority in court, appeared open to overturning Roe vs. Wade and 50 years of case law guaranteeing a fundamental right to abortion. The Supreme Court has already issued three opportunities to block a Texas law banning abortions in the state at about six weeks’ gestation and imposing enforcement through individuals rather than government officials, underscoring the court’s willingness to allow at least one state to apply a restrictive law. Since Texas enactment came into force in September, patients from that state have traveled to Oklahoma for abortion care. The state has treated about 45 percent of Texas patients who have left the state for abortion more than any other state, according to a recent study from the University of Texas at Austin. “There is a state of emergency in Oklahoma,” said Senate President Greg Tritt (R), dismissing the number of abortions performed in Oklahoma in recent months. “It’s boring”. The Oklahoma legislature has made every effort to limit abortions in the state, Treat said. Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have backed several abortion bans in this session, including two that were drafted under Texas law. These two bills, which have both been passed by a parliament, could still go ahead and reach the governor’s office. If Oklahoma stops providing abortions, women in Texas and Oklahoma will have to look for the procedure in Arkansas, Kansas or New Mexico, where clinics are already fully booked, scheduling appointments two to four weeks out. Unlike many other abortion bans proposed in Oklahoma at this session, the bill that makes abortion illegal does not include the only enforcement strategy behind the Texas abortion ban that authorizes individuals to enforce the law through civil litigation. Asked for comment Tuesday afternoon, abortion providers in Oklahoma had no idea the bill was passed. “You serious?” asked Andrea Gallegos, a manager at Tulsa Women’s Clinic, one of four state-run abortion providers. “Oh my God.” The bill passed as more than 100 abortion rights activists gathered in the Oklahoma Capitol for a “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally, expressing their opposition to the abortion bans proposed at this meeting. “They gave the bill to the meeting and voted on it at the time it took to organize our rally,” said Olivia Cappello, spokeswoman for the state-run Planned Parenthood media campaign.
