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Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (in April 2022)
Photo: Sue Ogrocki/AP
The dispute in the USA about how to deal with abortions continues - and numerous republican states are creating facts despite resistance from parts of the population.
Oklahoma's governor has signed into law the toughest abortion law in the United States.
"I made a promise to the people of Oklahoma that as governor, I would sign every life-saving bill that came to my desk, and I'm proud to make good on that promise today," Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said.
The law prohibits abortions with very few exceptions, such as to save the mother's life and after rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.
Citizens will be given the ability to sue doctors who perform abortions—or anyone who helps.
The state's four abortion clinics have already shut down in anticipation of the new law.
Previously, they had cared for many patients from Texas, where a corresponding law was passed some time ago.
Law will occupy the courts
Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion rights organization in the US, said it will challenge the Oklahoma law in court.
"We will never stop fighting for the right to self-determination over one's own body," the group declared.
A leaked draft ruling earlier this month showed that the conservative majority of the US Supreme Court is about to rule in the landmark Roe v.
Wade's 1973 right to abortion.
Republicans have already announced or are in the process of tightening abortion laws in most of the states they govern.
jok/AFP
