Oklahoma clinics react to potential Supreme Court abortion ruling
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — A leak from the Supreme Court releasing an early draft opinion on Roe v. Wade is putting pressure on both sides of the abortion issue in Oklahoma.
“This is an awful moment, but we can now say to people that have been in denial, this is it, the end of Roe is here and we are going to have to fight back at the state level to protect the people who live within each state,” said Emily Wales, Interim President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
Planned Parenthood has been working with a coalition of abortion providers to get Oklahoma's recent anti-abortion legislation blocked, and has filed two lawsuits.
One of the targets is the Oklahoma heartbeat bill, co-authored by Representative Todd Ross, a Texas-style abortion ban at six weeks of conception when most women are unaware they are pregnant.
“For Oklahoma, our position for a long time now has been don’t bring us your abortion doctors bring us your babies,” said Ross.
Ross says despite where people land on the issue, the leak is more concerning than the possible decision to overturn Roe.
“I don’t think it helps the people for it or against it, I think all it does is create anxiety all across the nation,” said Ross.
Planned Parenthood says the real anxiety is from women running out of care options, like the thousands from Texas who have turned to Oklahoma's abortion clinics.
“Abortion access is extremely difficult in this region of the country. Roe is not a reality for many people here," said Dr. Iman Alsaden, medical director at Planned Parenthood Great Plains. "There's a difference between legality and access, and so when you have a situation where there is so little respect for constitutional precedent, you end up in these situations that are very dangerous for all of us. It's not just about abortion. This is about all the rights that have been constitutionally guaranteed to us.”