Reproductive rights groups are stepping up their fight against Georgia’s new abortion law.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood asked a federal judge on Tuesday to block the act, dubbed the “fetal heartbeat bill,” from becoming law while their current lawsuit is ongoing.
“This legislation is blatantly unconstitutional under nearly 50 years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Politicians should never second guess women’s healthcare decisions,” said Sean J. Young, legal director of the ACLU of Georgia.
The group is challenging Georgia’s abortion ban on pregnancies where a heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks. The lawsuit filed in June claims that the new law, set to take effect on Jan. 1, is a violation of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling of 1973. Roe v. Wade gives a woman the authority to have an abortion without government restriction until a fetus is developed enough to live outside a woman’s uterus. Proponents of the bill say abortion ends a fetus’ life.
Abortion opponents think that a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade in the future.
“We must protect life at all cost,” Gov. Brian Kemp said when he signed the Georgia bill in May.
Kemp predicted that the legal battle would ensue.
“I realized some may challenge it in the court of law, but our job is to do what is right, not what is easy,” he said.
