OKla. top court reaffirms abortion law unconstitutional

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday reaffirmed its earlier ruling that the state's 2011 restrictive abortion law is unconstitutional.

The ruling comes one day after a federal judge found parts of Texas' restrictive abortion ban unconstitutional.

The Oklahoma law, which limits how medication can be used to induce abortions, was struck down in 2012 by an Oklahoma district court and later upheld by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt then sought to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, prompting the federal high court to pose several questions regarding the Oklahoma court's finding,The Washington Post reports.

In its response to the inquiries, the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday reaffirmed its earlier ruling that the law is so broad that it would ban all medication-induced abortions. It is now up to the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case or let the latest ruling stand.

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which supported the initial challenge, tells The Oklahoman that politicians, in originally passing the legislation, "cast aside women's constitutional rights along with years of research, evidence-based medicine and doctors' practical experience."

"Physicians know better than politicians what's right for their patients, and medical decisions should be made according to their advice and expertise, not any politician's ideological agenda to ban abortion," she tells the newspaper.

Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt said the state court "erred yet again by interpreting the law more broadly than the legislature intended." He added that his office would "enforce the law as written and continue to fight for improved care that protects Oklahoma women from harmful outcomes."

In the Texas case, District Judge Lee Yeakel on Monday shot down part of the statute passed by lawmakers this summer that would require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. If upheld, that law would have closed abortion clinics across the state. The judge, however, did uphold most provisions governing use of pregnancy-ending drugs.