Top court leak ignites US abortion firestorm
OKLAHOMA CITY: Oklahoma’s Republican governor Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, part of a push in Gop-led states hopeful that the conservative US Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions.
“I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country,” Stitt tweeted after signing the bill. Stitt’s signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s highest court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v Wade decision that legalised abortion nearly 50 years ago.
The bill Stitt signed takes effect immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the bill. Abortion providers say now that the new law is in effect, they will immediately stop providing services for women after six weeks of pregnancy.
The new law prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
A similar bill approved in Texas last year led to a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions performed in that state.
Dr Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas’ law that took effect in September has given their employees an idea of what a post-roe country might look like.
The bill authorises abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, but there are no exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would allow private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for up to $10,000.
After the US Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to remain in place, other Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, although it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.
Abortion focus shakes midterm poll landscape
The leaked draft is shaking the US political landscape in what has been expected to be a difficult election year for Democrats.
The draft opinion surfaced just as the most competitive phase of the primary season was beginning, with races unfolding on Tuesday in Ohio and Indiana. While the political fallout will take months to settle, this much is clear: Rarely in the modern era has a Supreme Court case had the potential to so dramatically reshape American life and politics.
“I hope that women across this country are going to rise up and realize this isn’t theoretical anymore,” warned Michigan Sen Debbie Stabenow.
South Carolina Sen Lindsey Graham acknowledged that a sweeping change in the nation’s abortion laws might help Democrats in November, but he suggested the election would depend more on the state of the economy than the explosive social issue.