Oklahoma Legislators Vote To Ban Abortion Statewide

Roe v. Wade and federal law be damned. The State of Oklahoma has passed legislation that will make abortion illegal within its borders.

Top News Today
On Tuesday, Oklahoma lawmakers voted 70 to 14 in favor of a near-total ban on abortion. The measure, known as Senate Bill 612, would make performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $100,000. The lone exception to the law would be “except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency.”

Since GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt vowed last September to sign “every piece of pro-life legislation” that came to his desk, the new law is expected to become official within a few days and become enforceable on August 26, 2022.

Republicans and conservatives across the country are celebrating the news as a win-win for the GOP and the pro-life movement. The news is especially jubilant because women from Texas have been crossing the border into Oklahoma for abortions ever since the Lone Star State enacted a law banning the procedure after 6 weeks (a very early stage of pregnancy).

“If allowed to take effect, S.B. 612 would be devastating for both Oklahomans and Texans who continue to seek care in Oklahoma,” a coalition of abortion rights groups, including the ACLU of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, said in a statement.

“Nearly half of the patients Oklahoma providers are currently seeing are medical refugees from Texas,” the groups said. “Now, Oklahomans could face a future where they would have no place left in their state to go to seek this basic health care.”

In what is being called a contagious code of conduct, conservative states across the country are adopting their own abortion laws that run counter to the traditional law of the land. Or, in other words, certain states are beginning to ignore Roe v. Wade and enact their own set of laws at the state level.

The US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments concerning the impending Oklahoma law. They will also review a new Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Republican-led state legislatures in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Idaho, and (now) Oklahoma have been operating as if Roe v. Wade has been struck down. If the Supreme Court rules that these states are within their right to create their own abortion laws, the 1973 law providing a woman with the right to choose what’s best for her own body could quickly become a relic of the past.

Proponents of the Oklahoma legislation are giddy with excitement.

“Obviously, I’m thrilled because we have the potential of seeing many lives of babies saved — part of that depends on future court rulings” like the one in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in Mississippi, said Oklahoma State Rep. Jim Olsen.

“This latest bill passage is yet another sign of the continued pro-life momentum we’re seeing nationwide as lawmakers and pro-life Americans await a decision from the Supreme Court in the Dobbs case,” said Mallory Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Susan B. Anthony List anti-abortion group.

In opposition, Emily Wales, interim president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said the bill was one of a series of anti-abortion measures advancing in Oklahoma. She added that Planned Parenthood intends to challenge the legislation in court.

OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
The State of Oklahoma has voted to ban abortion.