Abortion law argued before top court referee

A law restricting the use of dilation and evacuation abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy would place an “immediate and extremely harmful” burden on Oklahoma women if allowed to go into effect, the attorney for a Tulsa clinic argued Monday to an Oklahoma Supreme Court referee.

“The harm i n this case will be quite immense,” Rabia Muqaddam told referee Brant Elmore in urging the state Supreme Court to grant an injunction putting the law on hold.

The Tulsa Women's Reproductive Clinic has asked the state Supreme

Court to review the July ruling of a district judge who upheld the law.

The law, approved by the state Legislature in 2015 and signed by then-Gov. Mary Fall in, would prohibit dilation and evacuation abortions after 1 4 weeks unless “fetal demise” is performed first. Oklahoma County District Judge Cindy Truong upheld the law, which was barred from going into effect while it was under challenge at the district court.

The state Supreme Court has not announced whether it will review T ru on g' s ruling. El more said Monday that justices may take 10 days or more to decide whether to allow the law to go into effect.

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that states can put some restrictions on abortion as long as they don't place an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion.

Oklahoma Assistant Soli ci t or General Zach West said the state has discretion to regulate abortion. The “fetal demise” procedure, often performed chemically, is widely used, West said, adding that an expert at the district court level testified that it was performed in about one-quarter of the second trimester abortions involving dilation and evacuation.

“It cannot possibly be unconstitutional to require a demise procedure that is widely performed,” West said.

Under state law, “suction” abortions are allowed up to 16 weeks, so the 2015 law does not leave women without options, West said.

Muq addams aid requiring fetal demise puts women at more risk with no medical benefit to them. Women have a fundamental right to abortion, and the law covers a time frame “long before viability,” she said.

Muq add am, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said after the hearing on Monday that hundreds of women would be affected in the next few months if the state Supreme Court allows the law to go into effect. Ultimately, thousands would be affected if the law remained in place, she said.

The Tulsa clinic does not perform abortions after 16 weeks, meaning the dispute mostly concerns women seeking an abortion between 14 and 16 weeks, still a significant number of women, Muqaddam said.

Ten state and federal courts have blocked similar laws.

“It's a rogue decision to say the least,” Muqaddam said of Truong's ruling.