The Republican-controlled Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill on Thursday that is modeled after the six-week abortion ban that Texas implemented last fall, which allows private residents to sue abortion providers in order to enforce the ban. Senate Bill 1503 would ban all abortions in Oklahoma after six weeks of pregnancy, so early on in the pregnancy that often people don’t even know yet that they’re pregnant. Like Texas’s six-week abortion ban, the bill places the onus of enforcement on individuals rather than the state. In other words, the state wouldn’t force abortion providers to abide by the new rules…
Texas abortion law
Texas Woman Charged With Murder for Self-Induced Abortion
A 26-year-old woman named Lizelle Herrera was arrested on Thursday and faces a murder charge in relation to her own self-induced abortion. Herrera is currently being held on a $500 thousand bond in the custody of the Starr County Sheriff’s Office, according to local station KVEO-TV. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office gave a statement to news outlets saying that Herrera’s arrest came about when their office learned she had “intentionally and knowingly cause(d) the death of an individual by self-induced abortion.” “This arrest is inhumane. We are demanding the immediate release of Lizelle Herrera,” said Rockie Gonzalez, founder and…
Louisiana Town Passes Texas-Style Ordinance Barring Abortion Outright
A small town in Louisiana has passed a new ordinance that allows its residents to sue anyone who helps an individual get an abortion, similar to the Texas law that was passed and enforced last year. The Pollock, Louisiana, ordinance, which passed through a 4-1 vote in the town council, bans abortion completely within the limits of the town. Even though there are no abortion clinics currently in Pollock, a town of fewer than five hundred people, the ordinance also bans the shipment of abortion medication to residents, and places severe penalties on anyone who helps an individual get an…
Missouri Lawmaker Wants to Ban Residents’ Travels to Other States for Abortions
A Republican lawmaker in Missouri is hoping to ban residents in her state from traveling to other states to obtain abortion services through an enforcement mechanism that is similar to that of Texas’s restrictive abortion ban. State Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R) has attached amendments to a number of abortion bills that are currently being considered within the state legislature, with hopes that her amendment will become law should one of those measures pass. Her proposal would allow any state resident to file a lawsuit against any individual who helps a Missouri resident get an abortion — even if that…
Supreme Court Says Abortion Providers Can Challenge Texas’s Restrictive Law
The United States Supreme Court has announced that it will vacate lower court rulings and allow abortion providers to sue the state of Texas over a highly restrictive abortion bill that bans the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. Although that process will be allowed to move forward, the Court said it won’t stop enforcement of the law in the meantime. The decision not to halt the law means that the restrictions will remain in place unless a lower court issues a ruling that would place a stay on the law sometime in the future. The Friday morning decision, issued…