Oklahoma has become the 8th state to ban abortions after the Supreme Court’s decides to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The state of Sooner stands out for being the first in the nation to successfully ban abortion from conception when Governor Kevin Stitt signed his Texas-style abortion ban earlier this month. But now that the Supreme Court overturns Roe, the state’s trigger ban has come into effect — successfully bans abortions without relying on a private enforcement mechanism. This will enable state and local officials to enforce the abortion ban and punish abortionists who defy it and kill babies.
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor sent a letter to several state leaders declaring that there is a “trigger law” that restores a 1910 abortion ban.
O’Connor said, “This is a great day for Americans, especially for those who believe that life begins at conception.”
“The womb is now, in Oklahoma, the safest place for a child to be,” O’Connor said.
Meanwhile, Governor Stitt also celebrated the Supreme Court ruling.
“Today, we are here to celebrate a lot of hard work,” Stitt said.
SUPPORT LIFE NEWS! If you like this pro-life article, please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
“When I ran for governor, I promised Oklahomans that I would sign every bit of pro-life law that came on my desk, and I’m thrilled I kept that promise,” Stitt said.
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was destroyed and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions, and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state to protect babies from abortion and Kentucky became 4th, Louisiana became 5th, Ohio became 6th, and Utah became 7th.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, holding a 5-4 majority decision in the Dobbs case that “the Constitution does not grant the right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 to uphold the 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi, allowing states to restrict abortions further.
“We believe that Roe and Casey should be overruled. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Judge Samuel Alito wrote before the majority.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and such a right is not implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one that Roe and Casey’s defenders now primarily rely on — the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Judge Samuel Alito wrote. in the opinion of the majority. “That provision is held to guarantee some rights not mentioned in the Constitution, but such a right must be ‘deeply rooted in the history and tradition of this nation’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty’.”
Immediately after the decision, Texas abortion companies announced they would be closing, and South Carolina said it had asked a federal appeals court to uphold the abortion ban.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or expeditiously ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
“Abortion poses a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was wrong from the start. The reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have fueled debate and deepened divisions.”
This is a milestone for the Pro-Life movement and our entire nation. After nearly 50 years of staining the moral fabric of our country, Roe v. Wade is no more.
Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer wrote a joint dissent condemning the decision to allow states to impose “draconian” restrictions on women.
