Oklahoma Supreme Court temporarily blocks abortion restrictions

Details: Abortion advocates asked the court to put the three restrictions on hold after a district judge temporarily blocked two of the five laws, including a ban of abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

• Now all five laws, which were enacted in the last legislative session, will remain blocked as the case proceeds.

What they're saying: "The court’s decision today comes as a huge relief," Alan Braid, owner of Tulsa Women’s Reproductive Clinic, said in a statement. "Texas has shown us the heartbreaking consequences of what happens when a state bans abortion. Even Oklahomans are suffering from the Texas ban, which has created backlogs of patients here and in other surrounding states."

• "[T]he state Supreme Court did precisely what the legal system is designed to do: block unconstitutional laws and ensure that our patients will be able to get the health care they deserve," added Emily Wales, interim president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
• "But this fight is not over: Oklahomans still must contend with numerous barriers to essential reproductive health care. We will continue fighting for them in every way possible."

The big picture: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases challenging Texas' restrictive abortion law, but left the law in place in the meantime.

• All of this is likely to end with significant new restrictions on abortion and a clear path for Republican-led states to win the next big abortion cases too — the culmination of a long and bitter fight for control of the judiciary, Axios' Sam Baker writes.

Worth noting: Clinics in Oklahoma have reported a massive influx of patients traveling from Texas, according to the lawsuit. One Oklahoma clinic has reported that two-thirds of the phone calls they receive are now from Texas patients.