GA Heartbeat Bill: Federal Appeals Court Rules Law Can Go Into Effect

GEORGIA — A U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Georgia’s “Heartbeat Bill” should be allowed to take effect, according to multiple reports.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Mississippi case that overturned Roe v. Wade clears the way for the law to take effect, saying it “makes clear no right to abortion exists under the Constitution, so Georgia may prohibit them.”

The Georgia law bans most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” is present. Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women realize they’re pregnant.

The Georgia law includes exceptions for rape and incest, as long as a police report is filed. It also provides for later abortions when the mother’s life is at risk or a serious medical condition renders a fetus unviable.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

• Abortion Services Still Available In GA While Heartbeat Bill On Hold
• GA Abortion Law: Fulton County DA Says She Won't Prosecute
• What Happens Now To Georgia's 2019 Anti-Abortion Law?