Oklahoma Moves Forward Measure That Would Automatically Ban Abortions In State If Roe Is Overturned

The Associated Press: 'Trigger' Abortion Bill Clears Oklahoma Senate Panel
Oklahoma would automatically ban abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide under a bill that has cleared a Senate panel. While abortion opponents chanted, prayed and sang hymns outside the committee room, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 11-4 on Monday for the so-called "trigger" abortion ban . Similar bills already have passed in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota. (2/25)

The Associated Press: Judge Rules Central Missouri Clinic Cannot Resume Abortions
Planned Parenthood cannot resume abortions at a clinic in central Missouri after a federal judge ruled that state restrictions were not "undue" burdens on women seeking abortions. Current Missouri law requires clinics that provide abortions to have physicians with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The Columbia clinic has been unable to secure a physician with those privileges after a panel of medical staff at University of Missouri Health Care decided to stop offering the privileges in 2015 during a Republican-led legislative investigation on abortion in the state. (2/25)

The Associated Press: Arkansas House Approves Tightening Abortion Ban To 18 Weeks
The Arkansas House on Monday approved a proposal to ban abortion 18 weeks into a woman's pregnancy, moving the state closer toward enacting what could be the strictest prohibition in the country. Without any debate, the majority-Republican House approved the ban by a 77-13 vote. Arkansas already has some of the strictest abortion limits in the country and bans the procedure 20 weeks into a woman's pregnancy. The bill advanced Monday includes an exemption for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest. The 18-week ban now heads to the majority-Republican Senate. (2/25)