Dechert Assists on Lawsuit Filed to Block Oklahoma’s New Abortion Bans and Restrictions
September 02, 2021
On September 2, 2021, Dechert litigation partner Linda Goldstein along with partners Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Blake Patton on behalf of the Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, Tulsa Women’s Reproductive Clinic, Dr. Alan Braid, Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, and Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma filed a lawsuit challenging five unconstitutional abortion restrictions passed by Oklahoma lawmakers earlier this year in state court, including bans on abortion.
Plaintiffs are asking the court to block the laws before they are scheduled to take effect on November 1, 2021.
The laws challenged in this lawsuit are:
1. A total abortion ban declaring that providing abortion at any stage in pregnancy qualifies as “unprofessional conduct” by physicians, which will result, at minimum, in suspension of licensure.
2. A law banning abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many people even know they are pregnant.
3. A law that would immediately decimate abortion access by disqualifying highly trained providers like family medicine doctors because they happen not to be board-certified OB/GYNs.
4. Two laws that contain a host of restrictions on medication abortion.
This lawsuit comes just one day after Texas’ six-week abortion ban took effect and months before the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that directly challenges Roe v. Wade.
The Dechert team also includes partner Jonathan Tam, retired partner Jerome Hoffman and associates Meghan Agostinelli and Jenna Newmark.
Click here to read the release from the Center for Reproductive Rights.
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