Oklahoma approves near-total ban on abortion

Pro-abortion protesters outside the Oklahoma Capitol. SARAH PHIPPS (AP)

By an overwhelming majority, the Republican-controlled Oklahoma State House of Representatives approved a bill on Tuesday that bans abortion in all cases except where the woman's life is at risk.

When it reaches the governor's table for his signature, this rule will become the most restrictive in the entire country.

Oklahoma was being the destination for many women from neighboring Texas to be able to interrupt their pregnancies since last September the southern state became the epicenter of the fight against abortion in the United States.

At that time, the second most populous state in the US passed the most restrictive and extreme law in the country against the interruption of pregnancy.

This happened until this Tuesday, when, without any debate, the bill has had a triumphant tour with 70 votes in favor and only 14 against.

Last year, the law had already been approved by the Senate.

Kevin Stitt, the governor, promised to sign it as soon as it gets to his office.

The new legislation stipulates penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 for those who perform an abortion.

Under the new rule, anyone can file a civil lawsuit against anyone who has helped or facilitated a pregnant woman to terminate her pregnancy. "The punishment falls on the doctor, not the woman," said Republican Congressman Jim Olsen, sponsor of the proposal.

Oklahoma had approved similar bills in the past, but they had always been struck down and annulled by the courts as they were deemed unconstitutional.

The right to abortion in the United States is in danger almost 50 years after being guaranteed under the Constitution.

After the appointment by Donald Trump of three conservative judges for the Supreme Court, that right is shaken after the repeated attacks against him in lower instances and the one that may be the definitive one since the Supreme Court has a case in its power that may decide the future of the rule known as Roe vs. Wade.

That sentence will be made to wait: until the end of the judicial course, during the last weeks of June, or before, if the magistrates so decide.

Nearly 60% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a number that has held relatively steady in recent years, according to a Pew Research Center poll this spring.

But there are huge differences between Republicans and Democrats on the issue.

The figures also confirm that almost one in four Americans have undergone the legal termination of a pregnancy.

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