The Oklahoma legislature passed legislation Thursday banning all abortions during fertilization. This makes the conservative bastion in the southern United States the state with the most restrictive regulations in terms of voluntary abortion.
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The vote comes as abortion rights in the United States are under threat from the Supreme Court, which appears poised to go back 50 years on its historic decision protecting abortion, according to a document released by Politico.
The text must now be signed by Governor Kevin Stitt to become law. This Republican-elect had already indicated that he would sign any legislation that tightened abortion restrictions.
Inspired by a law passed by Texas in September, this text of Oklahoma law opens the door for lawsuits brought by ordinary citizens against people suspected of having had an abortion.
However, the definition of termination of pregnancy does not include “the use, prescription, supply or sale of the morning-after pill or any form of contraception or emergency contraception”, according to the text.
US Vice President Kamala Harris later denounced the Oklahoma Legislature’s decision as “the latest in a series of flagrant attacks on women by elected officials.”
The Executive Branch’s N.2 therefore called on Americans to elect leaders who would defend abortion rights “at the local, state and federal levels.”
“It’s never been so urgent,” she said on Twitter.
For its part, the organization Planned Parenthood, which defends abortion rights, announced that it would “sue Oklahoma”.
“This ban must be stopped along with all the other bans this state has enacted over the past month,” Planned Parenthood continued on Twitter.
On May 3, Governor Kevin Stitt announced that he had signed legislation banning abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
“I want Oklahoma to be the most hostile state in the country,” he said, using the term Americans use against abortion.
Oklahoma had welcomed thousands of Texan women seeking abortions for several months after similar text was passed in that neighboring state in September.
Although supported by the majority of the population, recent polls show that abortion rights have been paramount since the historic Roe v. Wade” of January 1973, protecting the right of American women to have an abortion.
26 conservative states, mostly in the center and south of the country such as Wyoming, Tennessee or South Carolina, are prepared to ban abortion altogether if the Supreme Court decides to overturn this right.