Oklahoma is the first state in the U.S. to pass a bill banning nearly all abortions.
On Wednesday, Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill outlawing abortions after conception, which makes it the strictest abortion law in the country.
“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I am proud to keep that promise today,” he said in a statement.
The law makes exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk or in cases of rape and incest.
Stitt has described himself as the “most pro-life governor” and promised to support all anti-abortion legislation in Oklahoma, reported the New York Post.
The new law bans the abortion of “an embryo in any stage of gestation from fertilization until birth”.
Emergency contraception, such as Plan B, or any other type of contraception are still accessible.
Although the law does not criminalize abortions, private citizens are able to sue anyone who aids in or performs an abortion.
“Just half an hour ago in Oklahoma, the state legislature passed one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country — a ban that would outlaw abortion from the moment of fertilization,” said Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Now think about that for a second, from the moment of fertilization. It’s outrageous and it’s just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country,” she added.
Many Republican-controlled states are starting to set up stricter abortion laws in the wake of the leaked Supreme Court document suggesting the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
