Gov. Stitt signs near-total abortion ban: 'We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state'

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s near-total ban on abortion is expected to go into effect this summer after Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 612 into law on Tuesday.

The law makes abortion a felony for those who provide the care, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. It makes an exception only for an abortion performed to save the life of the mother.

“I promised Oklahomans that I would sign every pro-life bill that hit my desk,” Stitt said. “And that is what we are doing here today.”

The measure garnered more than 80% support in both chambers, Stitt said, adding that Oklahomans overwhelmingly support protecting life.

“We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country,” Stitt said. “We want to outlaw abortion in the state of Oklahoma.”

Stitt said he knew the bill would be challenged immediately by “liberal activists from the coasts.”

“This is a wonderful day,” said Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, the House author. “This is a historic day. This is the day that the state of Oklahoma says: ‘We value all life, born and the unborn.’”

The Oklahoma Legislature has advanced other bills in recent years that were later determined by courts to be unconstitutional.

SB 612 is generally acknowledged to be unconstitutional on its face under Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that guarantees women the right to abortions under certain circumstances.

Oklahoma also has a “trigger ban” on the books, which is designed to ban abortion immediately if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

The Biden administration characterized Oklahoma’s SB 612 as “the country’s most restrictive legislation regulating access to reproductive health care.”

“Today, the country’s most restrictive legislation regulating access to reproductive health care was signed into law in Oklahoma,” Biden press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday in a statement.

“The actions today in Oklahoma are part of a disturbing national trend attacking 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.”

Later Tuesday, the state House Rules Committee voted to keep alive two bills and one proposed constitutional amendment also dealing with abortion rights, though House Majority Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, acknowledged that at least two of them might be superfluous.

House Bill 1553, by Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, would outlaw abortion after 30 days following a woman’s last menstrual period, and HB 1555, also by Treat, would update an existing statute that would revert Oklahoma’s abortion laws to a pre-Roe v. Wade ban should that decision be overturned.

House Joint Resolution 37, also by Treat, is a proposed amendment to the state constitution specifying that there is no state right to an abortion.

In response to questions from House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, Echols said HB 1553 and HJR 37 might not serve much purpose should SB 612’s ban stand and in light of pending Supreme Court decisions.

Echols, who presented the bills in committee, said HB 1555 was more likely to come into play because it would keep in statute existing abortion restrictions should, as he said he expects, the Supreme Court further limit the scope of Roe v. Wade without completely overturning it.

Virgin released a statement later Tuesday, saying: “Today, Governor Stitt, flanked by legislative Republicans, signed what must be close to Oklahoma’s 100th ban on abortion. Like the others, this attempt will be challenged in court at the expense of Oklahoma taxpayers, and like the others, it will be ruled unconstitutional.”

Indeed, a press release issued Tuesday from five groups — the ACLU of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes and Trust Women — said that “Oklahoma abortion providers, represented by Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Center for Reproductive Rights, have pledged to challenge any ban that is signed into law in Oklahoma this session.”

“Just last year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked five anti-abortion laws — including a near-total abortion ban — that would have stopped patients throughout the state from getting care,” the groups said.

In a statement Tuesday, officials with the Center for Reproductive Rights noted that it has sued Oklahoma 10 times in the past decade over abortion access.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s failure to stop Texas from nullifying the constitutional right to abortion has emboldened other states to do the same,” CEO Nancy Northup said in a statement.

“Oklahoma’s total abortion ban is blatantly unconstitutional and will wreak havoc on the lives of people seeking abortion care within and outside the state.”

Texas’ new anti-abortion law leaves enforcement up to private citizens, who are entitled to $10,000 if they bring a successful lawsuit against a provider or anyone who helps a patient obtain an abortion.

Opponents of SB 612 point at disproportionate effects on Oklahomans who are already struggling.

“This ban will harm all of us, but the impacts will fall hardest on people of color, survivors of sexual and domestic violence, immigrants, people with low incomes, young people, and people living in rural areas,” said Tamya Cox-Toure, co-president of Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice.

Virgin said in her statement that “regardless of what Oklahoma and the US Supreme Court decide to do, abortion will remain legal in other states, and those who can afford to travel to those states to access health care will do just that. Reproductive health in Oklahoma will become yet another area where those with means will have access, and those who’ve been left behind by their government will suffer the consequences of these unconstitutional policies.”

— Randy Krehbiel contributed to this story.

Gov. Stitt signs near-total abortion ban: “We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state”