Oklahoma legislators have passed a law banning abortion after conception. Which critics say is the most restrictive such measure in the US.
The Republican-led bill would prohibit all abortions, except to save. The life of a pregnant woman. If the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
It comes after a leak suggested the US Supreme Court may quash a 1973 ruling that legalised abortion nationwide.
Republican-led US states are ramping up bills to limit abortion access.
On the other side, US Senate Democrats last week tried to pass a bill. That critics said would allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. It was stopped by Republicans.
Opinion polls find most Americans are in favour of abortions access. Though surveys also show public support for allowing the procedure drops sharply after the first trimester of pregnancy.
Generally Legal In US States
Abortion is generally legal in US states that do not restrict the procedure up until around 24 weeks. Of pregnancy, which is near the end of the second trimester.
Oklahoma has recently passed several laws aimed at setting it apart as the most “pro-life” state in the US.
The bill passed overwhelmingly at the state capitol in Oklahoma City on Thursday is modelled. On a Texas anti-abortion law that allows anyone to sue abortion providers in civil court.
But it bans abortions earlier than Texas, which imposed a six-week limit, around. The time cardiac activity can be detected in the embryo, and before many women realise they are pregnant.
The Oklahoma measure defines fertilisation as the “fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum”. Banning abortion after conception has been a long-held goal of national anti-abortion groups.
The bill has yet to be signed into law by the state’s Republican governor, who has vowed to approve any anti-abortion legislation that comes to his desk.
The Oklahoma measure allows exemptions in cases of rape and incest, but only if reported to the police. It does not ban contraception or morning-after pills.
The state has passed two other anti-abortions bills in the past three months, which have already caused most abortion providers in the state to close.