The Lower House of the state of Oklahoma (USA), controlled by the Republicans, approved this Tuesday a bill that prohibits the abortion in all cases except those in which the life of the mother is at risk, and which will become the most restrictive legislation in the country.
The text, endorsed with 70 votes in favor and 14 against, must now be promulgated by the state governor, the Republican kevin stittwho last September promised to sign any such legislation that lands on his desk.
The Oklahoma proposal prohibits, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison, a doctor from performing an abortion at any time during pregnancy, unless it is to “save the life” of the woman.
Therefore, it does not have exceptions for those women who have been victims of rape.
In addition, it allows individuals to file civil lawsuits against anyone who helps a pregnant woman to have an abortion if they believe they violate the ban, and offers financial rewards to the plaintiff if they win the lawsuit.
Oklahoma had become the top destination for abortions for women from neighboring Texas after the state banned abortions after the sixth week of gestation.
After the approval of the project in Oklaoma, the NGO Civil Liberties Union (ACLU, in English) criticized that “no one should be forced to continue a pregnancy against their will.”
The organization lamented that there are “attacks against the right to abortion” in various parts of the country, but warned that “the fight is not over.”
Abortion has been legal in the US since the country’s Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that the state has no right to intervene in a woman’s decision about her pregnancy, but several conservative-leaning states have imposed restrictions over the past two decades.
Everything indicates that the conservative majority in the Supreme Court will restrict abortion in the country in June or July of this year, when it will decide on another Mississippi law that would limit it from 15 weeks and that also contradicts, therefore, the 1973 precedent.
If that happens, 26 conservative-leaning states are expected to restrict abortion, leaving millions of patients in limbo in the US, where most women seeking abortions are poor and in many cases cannot afford to travel. to other states.
Until now, the most restrictive law is in Texas, where abortion is prohibited as soon as fetal heart activity is detected, around six weeks of gestation, when many women do not know they are pregnant.
