A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Georgia abortion ban, one of the most restrictive abortion bans to pass in the states, preventing it from taking effect on January 1, as scheduled in the new law.
In May, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the "fetal heartbeat" bill into law. Under it, abortion is banned once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as at about six weeks. Many, if not most, women are not even aware they're pregnant at that stage of fetal development. There's an exemption for rape and incest, but the woman is required to have filed a police report to be able to get it. It also has an exemption if the mother's life is at risk or if the fetus is determined to not be viable. Neither of which are real medical things that happen as early as six weeks.
The bill goes beyond to declare an embryo a "natural person" once that heartbeat is there, when "the full value of a child begins." That confers on it basically more rights in the eyes of Georgia lawmakers than the woman carrying it has.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights all sued to stop the law. This is a temporary and critical reprieve, and they vow to keep fighting. "Today is a tremendous victory for the women of Georgia and for the Constitution," ACLU of Georgia legal director Sean Young said. "Politicians have no business telling women or couples when to start or expand a family. This case has always been about one thing: Letting her decide."