Oklahoma's highest court on Tuesday ruled the state's constitution protects a right to an abortion to preserve the mother's life, and that a doctor does not need to wait until there is an immediate medical emergency to perform one.
In a 5-4 ruling, the Oklahoma Supreme Court found that a law passed last year that allows life-saving abortion only when there is a "medical emergency" violates the "inherent right to life" under the state constitution.
"While we are relieved Oklahomans facing life-threatening situations have a right to care, the decision to maintain the state's pre-Roe ban is unconscionable," Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement. Tuesday's decision comes amid widespread uncertainty in states with abortion bans about when doctors can perform the procedure if needed to preserve the mother's life or health. Some women have beenuntil they are in immediate danger before obtaining an abortion, even when doctors foresaw the risk much earlier.
"We know of no other law that requires one to wait until there is an actual medical emergency in order to receive treatment when the harmful condition is known or probable to occur in the future," they wrote in an unsigned opinion.
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