Lawmakers renew push to restrict abortion in Oklahoma, as political environment changes

Optimistic in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s political shift, conservative Oklahoma lawmakers are pushing for laws to further restrict abortion access.

Legislators have sponsored more than a dozen abortion bills for the 2021 session. Members introduced a bill that would ban abortion after a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat — usually around six weeks, when many women don’t yet know they’re pregnant. Another bill would restrict which doctors can perform the procedure.

One “trigger bill” would automatically ban abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned or altered Roe. v. Wade, the 1973 landmark opinion that established a woman’s right to have an abortion. On Jan. 21 — one day before Roe v. Wade’s 48th anniversary —Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, filed the measure.

The shift in the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t prompt the introduction of the anti-abortion bills, but it did ignite more optimism among Oklahoma lawmakers, Treat said.

Read more: https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/lawmakers-renew-push-to-restrict-abortion-in-oklahoma-as-political-environment-changes/