The Oklahoma House has approved a bill that makes almost all abortions a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison
People hold signs during the Bans Off Oklahoma Rally on the steps on Oklahoma state Capitol in Oklahoma City. AP
The Oklahoma House has approved a bill that makes almost all abortions a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The Republican-controlled House voted 70-14 to send the bill to Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, who is known to have said that he would sign any anti-abortion law that comes to his desk.
The bill is one of several anti-abortion measures still alive in Oklahoma’s Legislature this year, part of a trend of GOP-led states passing aggressive anti-abortion legislation as the conservative US Supreme Court is considering ratcheting back abortion rights that have been in place for nearly 50 years.
Let’s take a look at the Oklahoma bill and how it makes near-all abortions illegal:
What is the Oklahoma bill
The Oklahoma bill, which passed the Senate last year, makes all abortions illegal except when performed to save the life of the mother, said GOP state Rep. Jim Olsen, of Roland, who sponsored the bill, as reported by the Associated Press.
Under the bill, a person convicted of performing an abortion would face up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The penalties, however, will apply to the doctor, not the woman, Olsen said.
In recent years, the courts have stopped several similar anti-abortion bills by the Oklahoma Legislature while terming them unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, the House also adopted a resolution to recognise the lives lost due to abortion and urged people to fly flags at half-staff on 22 January, the day when the US Supreme Court legalised abortion in its landmark 1973 desicion in Roe v. Wade.
The bill’s passage came on the same day as more than 100 people attended a “Bans Off Oklahoma” rally outside the Capitol in support of abortion rights.
A separate bill introduced in the Oklahoma House this year proposes banning almost all abortions and allows private citizens to sue any person who “aids or abets” abortions.
That bill contains an emergency clause, which would allow it to take effect immediately once it is passed and signed by the governor, according to a report by Reuters.
The voices of protest
The abortion ban in Oklahoma has increased the number of states in the US where there is little to no legal access to abortion.
After last September, when Texas banned abortions for over six weeks of pregnancy, Oklahoma had become a destination for Texas women seeking abortions.
The Texas law that took effect last year bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
“These harmful bills are an alarming reminder that the days of access to safe and legal abortion may be numbered, and we must continue to fight to guarantee all people have access to the essential health care they need, including abortion,” Tamya Cox-Toure, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said in a statement, as cited by Reuters.
Dr Iman Alsaden, medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, told The Guardian that the implication of this bill will be felt by people in several states.
“The implications of all of this is there’s going to be a few states that are relied on to provide abortion care to people, and those people who do not live in those states will have to wait enormously long wait times,” said Alsaden.
Emily Wales, interim president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, also said that the legislators have continued their “relentless attacks on our freedoms”.
“These restrictions are not about improving the safety of the work that we do. They are about shaming and stigmatizing people who need and deserve abortion access.”
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.