Oklahoma panel passes Texas-style anti-abortion measure

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A House committee in Oklahoma on Wednesday approved an abortion ban that would implement an enforcement mechanism similar to a new Texas law considered to be the nation’s most restrictive abortion law in decades.

The House Public Health Committee passed the measure by a party-line vote and sent it to the full House, where it’s likely to pass.

The bill prohibits physicians from performing abortions and allows private citizens to pursue civil actions of up to $10,000 against doctors and others who aid a woman in obtaining an abortion.

After a similar bill was approved last year in Texas, statistics show abortions fell in Texas by 60% in the first month. Since then, abortion providers in neighboring states, including Louisiana and Oklahoma, have reported seeing a massive influx of women from Texas seeking abortions.

An Oklahoma Senate committee last month passed five anti-abortion bills, including one that would ban abortions 30 days after conception, before many women know they’re pregnant.