Days before Oklahoma bans abortion, details still uncertain

Oklahoma is only days from enacting the toughest U.S. state ban on abortion and providers are preparing to stop terminating pregnancies

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma is only days away from enacting the toughest U.S. state ban on abortion and providers are preparing to stop terminating pregnancies while questions remained Friday about enforcement of the law's limited exceptions.

The law allows abortions to save a pregnant patient's life “in a medical emergency” and in cases of rape, sexual assault or incest that have been reported to law enforcement. But it doesn't spell out who decides what is considered a medical emergency, and the rape and incest exception won't help victims who don't report the crimes against them to police. State officials didn't immediately have answers to how the life-of-the-mother exception will be applied going forward.

Abortion providers said they are likely to be cautious because the new law, like a ban at about six weeks enacted earlier and a similar 2021 law in Texas, will expose them to potentially expensive lawsuits for alleged violations. They're planning to refer some patients to states like Colorado or Kansas, but some patients won't be able to manage the extra time or travel involved.

Oklahoma will provide a preview of what is in store for other states if the U.S. Supreme Court follows through on a draft opinion leaked earlier this month overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. The law also is likely to prompt Oklahoma residents — and Texans who'd gone to the neighboring state — to go elsewhere to end their pregnancies.