The measure prohibits abortion in all cases except where the mother’s life is at risk.
The Oklahoma proposal prohibits a doctor, with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, from performing an abortion at any time during a pregnancy unless it is to “save the woman’s life.”
The Republican-controlled Oklahoma state lower house on Tuesday approved a bill banning abortion in all cases except where the life of the mother is at risk, and what will become the most restrictive legislation in the country.
The text, approved by 70 votes in favor and 14 against, is now subject to promulgation by the state’s governor, Republican Kevin Stitt, who promised last September to sign any legislation of the kind that reaches his desk .
The Oklahoma proposal prohibits a doctor, with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, from performing an abortion at any time during a pregnancy unless it is to “save the woman’s life.”
Therefore, there are no exceptions for women who have been victims of rape.
Additionally, individuals can file civil lawsuits against anyone who assists a pregnant woman with an abortion if they believe they are violating the ban, and offer the plaintiff financial rewards if they win the lawsuit.
Oklahoma had become the top abortion destination for women from neighboring Texas after the state banned abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy.
After the Oklahoma project was approved, the NGO Civil Liberties Union (ACLU, for its English acronym) criticized that “no one should be forced to continue a pregnancy against their will”.
The organization lamented that there were “attacks on abortion rights” in different parts of the country, but warned that “the fight is not over yet”.
Abortion has been legal in the United States since the country’s Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that the state had no right to intervene in a woman’s decision about her pregnancy, but several conservative-leaning states have imposed restrictions over the past two decades.
All indications are that the conservative majority on the Supreme Court will limit abortion in the country in June or July this year when they rule on another Mississippi law that would limit it to 15 weeks, thus breaking the precedent of 1973 contradicts.
When that happens, 26 conservative-minded states are expected to restrict abortion, leaving millions of patients in limbo in the United States, where most women who want abortions are poor and, in many cases, can’t afford it, to travel to other states.
So far, the most restrictive law is in Texas, where abortion is banned as soon as fetal heart activity is detected, around the sixth week of pregnancy, when many women are unaware they are pregnant.