On Wednesday, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law the nation's strongest abortion ban, which forbids abortions from conception and empowers ordinary citizens to sue those who assist women in terminating pregnancies.

Stitt stated in a statement, "I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I am proud to keep that promise today,"

Only medical emergencies, rape, and incest are excepted from the legislation sponsored by Republicans, which takes effect immediately.

Oklahoma is among the Republican-led states hurrying to adopt anti-abortion legislation this year, anticipating the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. This 1973 case established the constitutional right to abortion.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based worldwide advocacy organization, announced that it would "imminently file a challenge to the ban and seek to block it in court."

"Oklahoma is now the only state in the United States to successfully outlaw abortion while Roe v. Wade still stands," the center stated.

A leaked draft judgment from the Supreme Court on May 2 revealed that the court's conservative majority intended to modify federal abortion rights and return the issue of legalization to the states.

The four abortion facilities in Oklahoma have already ceased abortion services in anticipation of the ban.

This month, Oklahoma adopted a new law prohibiting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy instead of after conception. Like the most recent legislation, it relies on civil litigation for enforcement.

The enforcement component in both bills was modeled after a Texas law that went into effect in September and prohibited practically all facilities in that state from conducting abortions.

Before adopting the Oklahoma laws, Texas women seeking abortions after six weeks began to travel to Oklahoma.

Patients must now travel to states such as Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado to terminate their pregnancies due to the expansion of a portion of the country where there is little to no legal abortion access.