(The Center Square) - Oklahoma leaders praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which comes months after state lawmakers passed some of the most stringent abortion laws in the country.
The case in question began with a legal challenge to a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks. Last year, Mississippi Attorney Lynn Fitch requested that the Supreme Court use that case to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The court ruled 6-3 that there is no constitutional right to abortion and said it’s up to states to decide how to handle the issue.
Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 612 during the 2022 legislative session. The bill makes it a felony to perform an abortion unless the mother’s life is in danger during a medical emergency. Anyone who violates the law faces a prison term of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $100,000. The bill will not make the woman criminally liable.
Lawmakers also passed House Bill 4327, which will hold abortion providers liable except in cases of rape, incest or to save the mother’s life.
“Abortion is a state’s rights issue and it belongs to the people,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt in a statement on Friday. “I promised Oklahomans I would sign every pro-life bill that came across my desk and I am proud to have kept that promise, especially today as Oklahoma now has trigger laws to ban abortion in our state.
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said in a statement Friday the ruling makes Oklahoma one of the most pro-life states.
‘Decades of steadfast prayer and unwavering legislative efforts to protect the lives of the unborn have finally prevailed,” McCall said. “Overturning Roe v. Wade justifies the long battle by Oklahoma House Republicans and pro-life allies nationwide to return this matter to the duly elected representatives of state legislatures to decide.”
O’Connor said it was a “day for celebration and thanksgiving.”
“Roe not only took away over 60 million lives, it also barred Oklahomans and all other Americans from protecting our unborn children,” O’Connor said in a statement. “We should help every woman facing a crisis pregnancy, but not at the cost of the innocent child’s life.”
via Oklahoma's Center Square News