The Oklahoma Supreme Court clarified a part of the state’s abortion ban that allowed the procedure in medical emergencies.
But the court upheld the ban on elective abortions.
The court ruled that the Oklahoma Constitution gives a woman a right to an abortion “to preserve her life if her doctor determines that continuing the pregnancy would endanger it due to a condition she has or is likely to develop during the pregnancy.”
The new laws only allowed abortions in a medical emergency. The court said the wording was vague:
“Requiring one to wait until there is a medical emergency would further endanger the life of the pregnant woman and does not serve a compelling state interest,” the ruling states.In the 5-4 ruling, the court said the state law uses both the words “preserve” and “save” the mother’s life as an exception to the abortion ban.”The language ‘except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency’ is much different from ‘preserve her life,’” according to the ruling.”Absolute certainty,” by the physician that the mother’s life could be endangered, “is not required, however, mere possibility or speculation is insufficient” to determine that an abortion is needed to preserve the woman’s life, according to the ruling.
I’m guessing they used that as a way to allow non-emergency abortions to “preserve” the mother’s life.
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed these three bills into law after SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade:
Senate Bill 612 banned most abortions in Oklahoma and only made exceptions to save the mother. The bill also banned abortions at conception.Senate Bill 1503 prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo. It also allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for up to $10,000.House Bill 4327 bans abortions from the moment of conception and allows anyone to sue the person who aids or abets a woman seeking an abortion at any point in a pregnancy. The bill could be Oklahoma’s strictest abortion ban.
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