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Oklahoma Legislature Passes Bill Banning Almost All Abortions
The legislation prohibits abortion from the moment of fertilization and relies on lawsuits from private citizens to enforce it. If the governor signs the bill, it would be the nation’s strictest measure, and take effect immediately.
Kate Zernike, Mitch Smith and
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The Oklahoma Legislature gave final approval on Thursday to a bill that prohibits nearly all abortions starting at fertilization, which would make it the nation’s strictest abortion law.
The bill allows private individuals to sue abortion providers and anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion. It would take effect immediately if signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who has pledged to make Oklahoma the most anti-abortion state in the nation.
“There can be nothing higher or more critical than the defense of innocent, unborn life,” State Representative Jim Olsen, a Republican, said on Thursday on the floor of the Oklahoma House, where the bill passed on a 73-16 vote.
The measure is modeled on a law that took effect in Texas in September, which banned abortion after about six weeks and has relied on civilian instead of criminal enforcement to work around court challenges. Because of that provision — the law explicitly says state authorities cannot bring charges — the U.S. Supreme Court and state courts have said they cannot block the ban, even if it goes against the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade.
The Oklahoma ban goes further than the Texas law, which bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.
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