As of 3:24 a.m
Supporters of liberal abortion rights demonstrate in June in front of the Supreme Court in Washington.
Those: Jose Luis Magana / FR159526 AP // dpa
The so-called new law bans abortions as soon as a fetus has a heartbeat. There are exceptions – but only a few.
WA few weeks following the US Supreme Court’s controversial abortion decision, a federal court ruled that the state of Georgia may in future have strict abortion rules.
The federal appeals court ruled that the so-called heartbeat law might go into effect immediately. Accordingly, women in the state are no longer allowed to terminate their pregnancy as soon as the heartbeat of the fetus has been determined. This can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. The Georgia law had been in court for several years.
The judges said the Supreme Court’s decision paved the way for the law to go into effect: The Supreme Court’s ruling made it clear that the Constitution does not provide a right to abortion, so Georgia can prohibit it, the ruling said. Georgia law provides exceptions for cases of rape and incest that are reported to the police. Subsequent abortions are also permitted if the mother’s life is in danger or the fetus is not viable.
At the end of June, the Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion, which had existed for almost 50 years, arguing that it was not enshrined in the constitution. Because there is no statewide law protecting the right to abortion, legislation now rests with the states. Republican-governed states in particular are trying to enshrine restrictive abortion laws as quickly as possible. They are sometimes stopped once more, at least temporarily, by local courts.