Starting this August, performing an abortion in Oklahoma would be a felony, due to new legislation signed by Governor Kevin Stitt. He also signed a separate law modeled after Texas’ restriction that bans abortion after six weeks and allows private citizens to enforce it through lawsuits. That law is now in effect.
KCRW catches up with OB/GYN Dr. Rebecca Taub from Northern California, who regularly travels to Oklahoma to relieve overburdened medical care providers.
“The clinic that I go to in Oklahoma also has a clinic site in Kansas. And so we are directing most of our patients to that Kansas clinic, and really figuring out how to optimize our operations and really be able to see as many patients as possible. … Now the patients from Texas and Oklahoma will all be coming to Kansas. And that’s really going to affect Kansans access as well,” Taub tells KCRW.
Taub says that on an average day, she sees 25 to 35 abortion patients. She’s at the Kansas clinic once a week every month. Sometimes, that number rises to 40 to 50 patients a day.
“They're long days, and we are very busy when we are there. It's definitely knowing that you're providing care to people who really need it now more than ever, [who] otherwise wouldn't be able to access that care that really keeps you going.”