Social Issues

Oklahoma passes bill banning abortion from moment of fertilization

Washington, May 19 (EFE).- The lower house of the state of Oklahoma in the United States on Thursday approved a bill banning abortion from the moment of fertilization.

The bill will take effect after the state’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, signs it.

Stitt has already warned that he will sign any anti-abortion bill that comes to his table, amid controversy over a leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would revoke federal protection of abortion rights.

If approved, the bill would become the most restrictive abortion law in the country, according to local media reports.

The legislation prohibits any abortion procedure except when the mother’s life is in danger, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest and reported to law enforcement.

In addition, in line with the controversial abortion law approved in Texas last year, the new regulation allows citizens to report any company or person they suspect has helped someone get an abortion.

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the bill the “most extreme effort” undertaken to date by a state to restrict the right to abortion.

“This is part of a growing effort by ultra MAGA officials across the country to roll back the freedoms we should not take for granted in this country,” she added.

MAGA, an acronym for “Make America Great Again,” was the presidential campaign slogan used by Donald Trump (2017-2021).

Oklahoma already has a law in place which, like the one in Texas, prohibits abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy.

Moreover, another legislation signed by the governor in April that will take effect in summer bans any abortion except to save the mother’s life.

Several Republican states, including Oklahoma, have also prepared “trigger laws” that will go into effect when the Supreme Court’s final ruling is known, in mid-summer.

Although the court has clarified that the leaked draft is not “definitive,” it indicates that the country’s top court will overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion in the country.

If that happens, states will have free rein to approve abortion bans if they so wish. EFE

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