Oklahoma City — The state assembly passed a bill Tuesday that would make performing an abortion a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, said he would sign any anti-abortion bill sent to him. If he signs this, it will go into effect this summer.
else House bill, 4327, would allow private citizens to file lawsuits against doctors who perform abortions and would only allow a woman to have an abortion if her life was in danger. It now goes to the state senate.
Kristen Williams, a participant in the abortion rights rally, said Tuesday in Oklahoma City, D.C.
The state has already imposed restrictions intended to deter women from having an abortion, including preventing them from using health insurance to pay for the procedure except for life-saving purposes; require ultrasound consultation and state mandate to discourage abortions; And impose a 72-hour waiting period before the procedure.
Abortion providers say they feel like they’re living in a “post-Roe environment,” referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.
Kristina Bourne, MD, director of the Trust Women’s Clinic in Oklahoma City.
Texas, which has the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, bans the procedure after doctors can detect a fetal heartbeat, about six weeks into pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape, sexual assault, incest or fetal abnormalities. It took effect in September.
Republican lawmakers in other states, including TennesseeIdaho and Missouri were quick to file counterfeit bills. The proposal in Arkansas goes beyond the six-week limit in Texas, banning abortions at any stage of pregnancy, except where the mother’s life is in danger.
according to Guttmacher Institute, an organization focused on reproductive health rights, introduced 71 proposed bills in 28 states this year to ban or ban abortion. The US Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a ruling that could severely undermine or upend Roe.
Abortions in Texas have fallen 60 percent since SB 8 went into effect, according to the Texas Commission on Health and Human Services, but data from the University of Texas indicated there are Texas women. Crossing state borders to be performed or obtained by other means.
Providers from California to New York say they are seeing an influx of patients from Texas, and Trust Women’s Clinics in Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kansas, said the patient burden has risen dramatically since the Texas bill was passed.
“What we saw immediately after SB 8 was we doubled in size,” said Kylie Follinger, clinical director at Trust Women Oklahoma City. “We’ve gone from seeing about 100 to 150 patients to nearly 300 in a month.”
As Oklahoma’s laws become more restrictive by the day, providers are concerned that the state will not be an option for Texan women seeking abortions.
Trust Women Clinics turn patients away, reducing their ability to provide any other health care services besides abortions.
Bourne said her clinic only gets more than 100 calls an hour from women trying to make appointments, and since they’re booked weeks in advance, some women, especially those who don’t know they’re pregnant right away, may not be able to do so. Abortion due to delay.
“We can really provide abortions 24 hours a day without meeting the needs of the people who are already arriving at our clinic,” Bourne said. “And in fact, we’re not going to be able to meet the abortion needs of everyone in the Midwest, in the South.”
The fight for more restrictive laws has revitalized the anti-abortion movement, whose members say they can see an end to legal abortion on the horizon.
“It’s definitely a great start to the ultimate victory, and we’re in a great position to win,” said Sean Carney, president of 40 Days for Life, an international anti-abortion organization.
“Women choose life, we have to support them and we have to allocate resources to them,” he said. “That’s why you see abortions going down not only in Texas but in other states that often regulate the unregulated abortion industry.”
Abortion providers looking for possible alternatives should HB 4327 Pass in Oklahoma. Those in Texas are building relationships in neighboring states, such as New Mexico, Kansas and Coloradoif getting to Oklahoma is no longer an option.
In Oklahoma, clinics are looking at possibilities such as mobile vans that will transport patients to the Kansas border where they can receive care.
“Abortion providers, people who work in the abortion community, are such very creative and resilient people,” Bourne said. “We are able to maneuver these difficulties.”
[ad_2]
