US: Governor Of Oklahoma Signs A Near-Total Abortion Ban

Pregnant woman and a doctor

Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, a Republican, has signed a bill making abortion illegal unless in medical emergency.

During a press conference, Stitt stated, “we want to choose life in Oklahoma. We do not want to allow abortions in the state of Oklahoma.”

It is the “strongest pro-life legislation in the country right now,” according to State Senator Nathan Dahm, “which effectively eliminates abortion in Oklahoma.”

Women’s rights campaigners and other groups, notably reproductive rights organization Planned Parenthood, have slammed the Oklahoma measure, calling it “cruel and blatantly unconstitutional.”

In the United States, a struggle over abortion access is raging, with the nation’s highest court poised to rule by June on a Mississippi case that could overturn the historic 1973 Roe v Wade decision.

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This 1973 Roe v Wade decision established a woman’s right to have an abortion, and if it is reversed, more than two dozen US states are primed to approve laws prohibiting abortion, according to an October analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group.

Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said in a statement on Tuesday, “make no mistake: today’s events in Oklahoma are part of a troubling national trend targeting women’s rights.”

“And the Biden Administration will continue to stand with women in Oklahoma and across the country in the fight to defend their freedom to make their own choices about their futures.”

Anyone who administers the procedure faces a fine of up to $100,000 and ten years in jail.

However, it does not allow for criminal charges to be brought against a woman who has had an abortion.

The near-total abortion ban will take effect later this year unless it is overturned by a court.

 

 

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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