KEY POINTS

  • Gov. Kevin Stitt suspended elective procedures, including abortions, due to COVID-19
  • The federal court ruled that the ban is oppressive and unreasonable
  • Abortion service providers may resume operation effective April 6

On Monday, April 6, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the state's suspension on abortion procedures. United States District Judge Charles Goodwin said that women seeking to end their pregnancy but cannot do so in Oklahoma might lead to “irreparable harm" thus he is allowing providers to resume their operations effective immediately.

Governor Kevin Stitt, R-OH, signed an executive order disallowing non-essential COVID-19 procedures on March 24.

Stitt's order stated that "elective surgeries and minor medical procedures" shall be suspended until April 30 so that medical resources may be channeled on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The governor later clarified in a press release that the order includes abortion services.

Agencies like the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood challenged the state's orders in court while citing that Stitt was invoking an unconstitutional ban on pregnancy termination procedures by using the pandemic.

Since the halting of the procedures, women seeking abortion in Oklahoma have been forced to travel to clinics in other nearby states.

Goodwin also noted that a woman on her 16th week of pregnancy, at the time of Stitt's executive order, would be unable to get an abortion in the state after the suspension is lifted since she will be on her 21st week. Oklahoma’s law doesn't allow for abortions if a woman is pregnant for more than 20 weeks.

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The court has ruled that women in Oklahoma may seek abortion despite the state's order to ban such procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic. sebagee/Pixabay

In his order, Goodwin ruled that the suspension is "oppressive" and "unreasonable."

"The benefit to public health of the ban on medication abortions is minor and outweighed by the intrusion on Fourteenth Amendment rights caused by that ban," Goodwin ruled.

Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights issued a statement after the court issued the temporary restraining order.

"Abortion is time-sensitive, essential healthcare," Northup said. "Women in Oklahoma are again able, for the time being, to access abortion care in their state at a time when travel is even more challenging."

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