State judge blocks 2 abortion laws, allows 3 others

OKLAHOMA CITY >> An Oklahoma judge on Monday temporarily blocked two new anti-abortion laws from taking effect next month, including a measure similar to a Texas abortion ban that effectively bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.

District Judge Cindy Truong said she would allow three other anti-abortion laws to take effect Nov. 1, which one abortion rights advocate said would be “catastrophic” to the ability of women to access abortion services in the state. Those three would create new restrictions on medication-induced abortions and require all doctors who perform abortions to be board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology.

“The OB-GYN requirement will immediately disqualify more than half of the doctors providing abortions in the state,” said Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney for the New Yorkbased Center for Reproductive Rights, which challenged the five new Oklahoma laws. “Every day that law remains in effect, we’re talking about really catastrophic fallout.”

The medication-induced abortion restrictions include requirements previously struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Those include an admitting privileges requirement that has been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court and an ultrasound requirement that is more restrictive than an ultrasound law the state Supreme Court already struck down.

Abortion clinics in Oklahoma already are being overwhelmed by patients from Texas, where the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a law to take effect on Sept. 1 that made it illegal to perform abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, which is usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.

About 11 women from Texas received abortion services at the Trust Women clinic in Oklahoma City in August. That number increased to 110 last month, said Rebecca Tong, co-executive director of Trust Women. Similar increases are being reported at abortion clinics in Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.