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The US state of Oklahoma has signed into law a bill which aims to ban all abortions after conception. The Republican-led bill would prohibit all abortions, except to save the life of the woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The near-total ban makes the move the most restrictive abortion law in the US. The bill allows private citizens to sue anyone suspected of assisting a person in having an abortion and prevents those who are sued from arguing the law is unconstitutional as a defence in court. The bill was inspired by a law in Texas that's currently recognised as one of the most restrictive in the US.

Texan Democrat state representative Erin Zwiener fought against the earlier move in Texas. She says this is yet another "extreme law" being passed by the Republicans, and she is fearful that more will follow, and with an "increasingly politicised judiciary", effective opposition is getting more challenging. She says on-street protesting and voting the Republicans out of office are the only ways to protect women's reproductive rights from this "extreme legislation". She says this bill will also impact the women from Texas who have been coming to Oklahoma for abortions since the law was changed there.

Photo: A doctor examines a woman seeking abortion in a clinic in Alabama, US Credit: Reuters