Recent Abortion Wins in Conservative States

Thousands of demonstrators march in support of Planned Parenthood and pro-choice as they protest a state decision that would effectively halt abortions by revoking the license of the last center in the state that performs the procedure, during a rally in St. Louis, Missouri, May 30, 2019. (Photo by Saul Loeb/via Getty Images)

While we all await the ruling from US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas, that could shift the landscape of women’s healthcare by overturning the FDA’s approval of abortion medication, we need to examine a few small victories for women’s healthcare, found in the most unlikely places.

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court — where yours truly once clerked — determined that the state constitution protects the right to abortion in life-threatening situations. Oklahoma had previously enacted a near complete ban on abortion services following the US Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health in May of 2022. Since then, abortion services have been completely unavailable to women in Oklahoma.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court found that “the Oklahoma Constitution creates an inherent right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy when necessary to preserve her life.” The court also determined that doctors should be able to use their own medical judgment to determine whether to provide an abortion when a patient’s life is at risk “due to the pregnancy itself or due to a medical condition that the woman is either currently suffering from or likely to suffer from during the pregnancy.”