Status: 04/13/2022 10:23 a.m
The US state of Oklahoma now has the strictest abortion law in the United States. Medical staff face imprisonment and fines if they perform abortions. Exceptions apply only to protect the life of the mother.
In Oklahoma, having an abortion is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Exceptions should only apply if the life of the expectant mother is in acute danger due to the pregnancy, according to a new law signed by Governor Kevin Stitt.
The proposed penalties do not threaten the pregnant women, but the medical staff who perform abortions. “We want to ban abortion in the state of Oklahoma,” Stitt said. “We believe every life has value.”
Most far-reaching US abortion law
The law, passed by a large majority in the Oklahoma legislature, is the most far-reaching abortion law in the United States. During the election campaign, he promised laws “for life,” Stitt said. Family planning associations have already announced legal action. The law was unconstitutional, it said.
According to local media, the new law is expected to come into force at the end of August. Republican Stitt acknowledged that there will certainly be many lawsuits against it. However, he expressed confidence that it will ultimately last.
Psaki: “Disturbing national trend”
Republican Nathan Dahm said the law would effectively eliminate abortion in Oklahoma.
US President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the law an “unconstitutional attack” on women’s rights. The law does not even provide for exceptions in cases of rape or incest, she criticized. The regulation is part of “a disturbing national trend to attack women’s rights”.
Texas: Abortion ban from the first heartbeat
The traditionally conservative Oklahoma with around four million inhabitants is located in the north of the populous state of Texas, where around 30 million people live. A strict abortion law has also been in force there since last year. The legal situation in the US state of Idaho is similarly strict.
Texas law prohibits all abortions once the fetal heartbeat has been detected. This can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. Many women do not even know at this point that they are pregnant.
What is unusual about the law is that it allows private individuals to take civil action against anyone who assists with an abortion.
landmark judgment of 1973
Other Republican-led states are also trying to largely restrict access to abortions. According to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in Washington in 1973, abortions are actually permitted in the USA until the fetus is viable – today around the 24th week of pregnancy.
The decision, known as “Roe v. Wade”, is considered a milestone. A lawsuit is pending in the Supreme Court against an abortion law in Mississippi that prohibits almost all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. If the conservative majority of the nine judges let the rule stand, other states could also further restrict abortions.