Oklahoma Gov. Signs Near-Total Abortion Ban into Law

“We have a responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother,” said Gov. Stitt.

QUICK FACTS:

• Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R) Wednesday night signed into law an abortion ban (HB4327) that prohibits abortions from the moment of fertilization, the strictest of such laws in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
• HB4327 allows private citizens to sue those who help women terminate their pregnancies, similar to Texas’ six-week ban, and is enforced through civil lawsuits rather than by state officials.
• The new bill permits citizens to sue anyone who performs an abortion or “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets” an abortion for $10,000 in damages.
• But the law, which takes effect immediately, does not allow people to sue the woman who has the abortion.
• HB4327 does make exceptions in cases of medical emergency, rape, or incest.
• Abortion rights organizations critical of the bill, including Planned Parenthood, have already vowed to file litigation against the Oklahoma ban. “We are seeing the beginning of a domino effect that will spread across the entire South and Midwest if Roe falls,” president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Nancy Northup, said in a statement Wednesday night. “Right now, patients in Oklahoma are being thrown into a state of chaos and fear. That chaos will only intensify as surrounding states cut off access as well.”

Oklahoma governor signs into law strictest abortion ban in the U.S. https://t.co/7jcIJMJGvi pic.twitter.com/rHmYhuNDli

— Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) May 26, 2022

WHAT GOV. STITT SAID:

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I am proud to keep that promise today,” Stitt said in a statement. “From the moment life begins at conception is when we have a responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother.”

READ HB4327:

BACKGROUND:

• The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that established the constitutional right to abortion.
• Twelve other states have abortion “trigger laws” ready to outlaw abortion if Roe is struck down. The pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute projects 26 states will ban the procedure if Roe is tossed.