What Does The Law Say About Having An Abortion In Oklahoma?
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma House gave final legislative approval to a bill making abortion a crime punishable by up to ten years in jail.
The Republican-controlled House voted 70-14 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has previously stated that any anti-abortion bill that reaches his desk will be signed.
At a time when the conservative U.S. Supreme Court is considering rolling back abortion rights that have been in place for almost 50 years, states led by the Republican Party are introducing tough anti-abortion legislation.
Only an abortion conducted to save the mother’s life is exempted under the Oklahoma law, which was enacted by Oklahoma’s Senate last year, according to Republican state representative Jim Olsen of Roland, who sponsored the legislation.
Anyone convicted of performing an abortion would face up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine under the proposed legislation.
Abortion is now illegal in Texas unless the woman is the victim of rape or incest, according to a state law that went into force last year.
As well as that, on Tuesday, the Oklahoma House passed a resolution calling on citizens to lower the flags on January 22, the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, to half-staff in honor of the women and men who have lost their lives because of abortion.
After Texas passed the most draconian anti-abortion law in decades, Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinic in Oklahoma had an 800 percent rise in the number of women from Texas, Wales said.
