Lawmakers in Oklahoma approved a bill Thursday that would make performing abortions a felony and revoke the medical licenses of most physicians who assist in such procedures.
This sweeping measure, which opponents described as unconstitutional and unprecedented, now heads to Gov. Mary Fallin (R). She will have five days — not including Sunday — to decide whether to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without her signature, according to a spokesman.
“The governor will withhold comment on that bill, as she does on most bills, until she and her staff have had a chance to review it,” Michael McNutt, a spokesman for Fallin, said in an email.
[tweet_dis]A piece of legislation was passed in the Oklahoma House and Senate May 19 that would make it illegal for doctors to perform abortions[/tweet_dis] that weren’t necessary to save the life of the mother. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)
The Oklahoma bill is the first such measure of its kind, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which says that other states seeking to ban abortion have simply banned the procedure rather than attaching penalties like this.
According to the measure, known as SB1552, a person who performs or induces an abortion will be guilty of a felony and punished with between one and three years in the state penitentiary.
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