How Does Oklahoma's Abortion Ban Strengthen Efforts Against Roe v Wade?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Tuesday signed a near-total abortion ban into law, leaving some to believe that Roe v Wade is at risk of being overturned by the Supreme Court.
Unlike many other newly-enforced laws that restrict abortions, the Oklahoma legislation will only make exceptions in the case of a medical emergency — not rape or incest. Stitt also said that medical providers who perform abortions will be punished with six-figure fines or up to 10 years in prison. The ban, Senate Bill 612, will likely go into effect in late August after the end of the current legislative session. Oklahoma is not the only state looking to pass an abortion ban akin to the Texas Heartbeat Act; some analysts say as many as 26 states are likely to ban abortions if Roe v Wade is overturned.
Columnist Paul Waldman argued in The Washington Post (Lean Left bias) that the Oklahoma bill "makes the death of Roe almost inevitable," and criticized Democrats for seeming "reluctant" to make abortion rights a mobilizing issue in the 2022 midterm elections. Waldman also called Republicans "emboldened" and predicted that "they’re coming for birth control next." An op-ed from The Washington Times (Lean Right bias) tied the larger debate around pro-abortion policy to the 2022 midterm elections and said "Democrats should fear the coming 'culture war' campaigns." Citing abortion and other sex-related topics, the writer contested that "the pendulum has swung too far left" and is now "coming back to center."
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
Oklahoma's new abortion law doesn't even pretend to adhere to Roe, setting up a showdownIn the game of up-the-ante that Republican-controlled states are playing in their zeal to eradicate abortion rights, Oklahoma took the lead this week. Its new law doesn’t bother with heartbeat standards or clever enforcement mechanisms but just says it outright: Any doctor who performs any abortion at any time (other than to save a woman’s life) could face 10 years in prison. This is the oppression that awaits women throughout red-state America should the U.S. Supreme Court dismantle Roe v. Wade.
That landmark 1973 case established the right of women to determine...
From the Left
Now nothing will stop the Supreme Court from overturning Roe v. WadeWhen the history of how American women lost their reproductive rights is written, the bill-signing that took place in Oklahoma City on Tuesday should be acknowledged as a key moment when the shrinking window of possibility that the Supreme Court might hold back from overturning Roe v. Wade essentially closed forever.
The occasion was Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signing a bill outlawing almost all abortions in the state, a move that is as plainly unconstitutional as it would be for the state to make it illegal to practice Judaism or criticize the president.
Why...
From the Right
Abortion rights without Roe poised to splinter across states, jurisdictions, courtsPerforming an abortion in Oklahoma will be a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday — just three days after lawmakers in Maryland went the other direction by expanding not only who can perform abortions but also requiring insurance to cover the procedure at no cost to the policyholder.
The new laws in Oklahoma and Maryland reflect a rapidly splintering legal landscape as Republican-controlled states enact abortion restrictions while Democratic-run states race to codify abortion rights....
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