The Oklahoma Supreme Court voted to temporarily block three laws that placed restrictions on abortion and that were set to take effect in the state on Nov. 1.
"The Oklahoma Supreme Court recognized that these laws would cause irreparable harm to Oklahomans," Center for Reproductive Rights President and CEO Nancy Northup said Monday . "All of these laws have the same goal: to make it harder to get an abortion in Oklahoma. We will continue to fight in court to ensure these laws are struck down for good. Politicians should not be meddling in the private health decisions of Oklahomans."
The Oklahoma State Capitol is located in Oklahoma City. (iStock)
The court blocked two laws that would have placed restrictions on abortion-inducing medication, while a third law would have required abortion-performing doctors to be board certified in obstetrics and gynecology.
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The court voted 5-3 to grant a temporary injunction, preventing the law from taking effect on Nov. 1. The three judges that dissented in the rulings were appointees of Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, while one judge did not vote.
About half of all abortion providers in the state would have been forced to stop providing abortions under the restriction requiring providers to be board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, which critics say would have sharply reduced access to abortion across the state.
The ruling comes after a district court judge temporarily blocked two other laws restricting abortion in the state from taking effect, one of which was similar to a Texas abortion law that bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.
But that ruling allowed the other three laws to stand, setting up the ruling by the state's Supreme Court.
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The ruling also comes after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the similar Texas law to take effect on Sept. 1 of this year, a ruling that critics say has caused a surge in women crossing the border into Oklahoma to seek abortions.
David Trujillo holds a sign as a school bus drives by on the street in front of a building housing an abortion provider in Dallas, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/LM Otero) (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Rebecca Tong, the co-executive director of Trust Women clinic in Oklahoma City, said their clinic received 11 women for abortion services in August. But that number increased to 110 women in September following the Supreme Court ruling.
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