Abortion rights group asks Oklahoma court to stop two laws

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An abortion rights group is asking Oklahoma’s highest court to block two new laws it says will devastate access to abortion in the state.
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed an appeal Thursday asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block a law that bans the most common second-trimester abortion procedure.
Approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law in 2015, the law prevents the use of instruments used in dilation and evacuation procedures commonly performed in the second trimester.
In the same appeal, the group asks the high court to reject a separate Oklahoma law that requires women to wait at least 72 hours after receiving state-mandated counseling before having an abortion. The center says Oklahoma is one of 27 states with similar waiting-period laws on the books.