Three laws that placed restrictions on abortion in Oklahoma and were to take effect on Nov. 1, were temporarily blocked by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Fox News reports.
The court granted a temporary injunction, preventing the law from taking effect, voting 5-3 with the three judges that dissented in the rulings being Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s appointees. Also,one judge did not vote.
Center for Reproductive Rights President and CEO Nancy Northup said Monday that the Supreme Court recognized these laws would cause irreparable harm to Oklahomans by making it harder to get an abortion, arguing that politicians shouldn’t be meddling in the Oklahomans’ private health decisions.
Two laws that the court blocked were envisaging restrictions on abortion-inducing medication, while the third law would have required abortion-performing doctors to be board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, preventing about half of all abortion providers in the state from working and, hence, sharply reducing access to abortion across the state.
The Supreme Curt’s ruling follows the temporary block that a district court judge has imposed on two other laws restricting abortion in Oklahoma from taking effect, one of which was similar to the Texas law that bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.
Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court allowed the similar Texas law to take effect on Sept. 1, a move that has prompted women to seek abortions across the border in Oklahoma. According to the co-executive director of Trust Women clinic in Oklahoma City, Rebecca Tong, the clinic received 110 women for abortion services in September following the Supreme Court ruling.
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