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"No uterus, no opinion": Women organize a protest against tightened abortion laws in New York
Photo: ALEX KENT / AFP
Just last year, Texas passed the toughest abortion law in the United States with the “Heartbeat Act” – now, according to US media, Oklahoma has introduced an even tougher law.
On Thursday, the Republican state legislature approved Gov. Kevin Stitt's law.
It is scheduled to come into force in August.
Under the law, performing an abortion in Oklahoma is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 (€92,000).
Exceptions should only apply if the life of the expectant mother is in acute danger due to the pregnancy.
The penalties do not threaten the pregnant women, but the medical staff who carry out abortions.
"There can be nothing higher or more important than the protection of innocent unborn life," said Republican Representative Jim Olsen during the House passage.
The traditionally conservative Oklahoma with around four million inhabitants lies north of Texas.
There, the Heartbeat Act bans all abortions once the fetal heartbeat has been determined.
This can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy.
Many women do not even know at this point that they are pregnant.
What is unusual about the law is that it allows private individuals to take civil action against anyone who assists with an abortion.
Republican push
Other Republican-led states are also trying to largely restrict access to abortions.
According to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in Washington in 1973, abortions are actually permitted in the USA up to around the 24th week of pregnancy.
This decision, known as Roe v.
Wade is known as a milestone.
US President Joe Biden's spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the new Oklahoma law an "unconstitutional attack" on women's rights.
The law doesn't even provide for exceptions in cases of rape or incest, she said.
The regulation is part of "a disturbing national trend to attack women's rights".
Mr