Oklahoma Governor Signs the Country’s Most Restrictive Abortion Ban

Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma signed the country’s strictest abortion ban into law, which takes effect immediately. It bans abortions at fertilization, except when the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest that have been reported to law enforcement. Modeled after a Texas law that lets individuals sue providers after fetal cardiac viability, the ban relies on civilian enforcement in order to evade the constitutional right to abortion, which will likely be overturned in the coming weeks. Under the law, private citizens can sue providers or anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion. Oklahoma’s last two abortion clinics are expected to stop offering services now that the bill has been signed. A state policy analyst for an abortion-supporting institute said that the law will not only be “disastrous for Oklahomans,” but will also affect Texas women who had been traveling to the state for the procedure. Another bill is expected to go into effect in the state this summer that makes it a felony to perform abortions, punishable by up to 10 years in prison; it has no exception for rape or incest.