Oklahoma Guv Signs ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Bill, Clearing Way for Citizen Snitches

You can’t say he’s not a man of his word. Less than a month after vowing to “outlaw abortion” in his state, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday signed into law a measure modeled after Texas’ crushingly restrictive legislation that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. “I am proud to sign SB 1503, the Oklahoma Heartbeat Act into law,” Stitt wrote in a tweet accompanying a photoshoot of him signing the bill. “I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country because I represent all four million Oklahomans who overwhelmingly want to protect the unborn.” The measure also allows ordinary citizens to sue, for up to $10,000, abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion. It will take effect immediately, hours after the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected an emergency request to halt the bill. Stitt’s signing comes a day after it was revealed by Politico that the Supreme Court was moving toward overturning Roe v. Wade, and less than a month after the Oklahoma governor signed a bill making it a crime to perform abortions, punishable by up to a decade in prison. That legislation, signed on April 12, is expected to go into effect this summer.