In May 2018, when Iowa signed its heartbeat bill into law, it was reported that state Sen. Then, with help from the anti-choice judges President Trump has appointed (hello, Brett Kavanaugh), there could be a vote to weaken or overturn Roe v. While these bills seem to be aimed at stopping people from getting abortions in specific states- and they are-the intent is also that one of these bills might result in a court case that could come before the Supreme Court.
KAREN BLEIER // Getty Images What about at the federal level?
And as mentioned above, in January, a state judge in Iowa also struck down the state's heartbeat bill, saying it was unconstitutional. The judge ruled it was "potentially unconstitutional" and stopped enforcement until there could be a hearing. In March, a federal judge temporarily blocked a heartbeat bill in Kentucky, which had been signed into law by the state's governor Matt Bevin, according to the New York Times. Supreme Court "essentially has held that a state cannot ban abortion before viability." She explained, "Viability is determined individually but on average is between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy." Elizabeth Nash, senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, told CNN that the U.S. What's the controversy surrounding these bills?īesides the fact that some pro-choice advocates consider these bills to be essentially abortion bans, many also consider them to be unconstitutional. Tennessee's state House and Senate also recently passed a heartbeat bill and similar bills are being considered in a number of other states, including Florida and South Carolina. Ohio lawmakers actually passed a heartbeat bill back in 2018, but it was ultimately vetoed by then-governor John Kasich, though he signed another restrictive abortion law at the same time. (In the past, DeWine said he would sign the heartbeat bill if it were to come across his desk.) The bill does not make exceptions for rape or incest, only for a woman who's at risk of dying or who could suffer "irreversible impairment of a major bodily function," according to The Hill. Ohio's own bill became law in early April after being signed by governor Mike DeWine, and the ACLU of Ohio already announced it will sue to stop the law from going into effect. If it ever did, it would be among the strictest abortion laws in the country.
Over the years, a number of states have introduced and voted on these bills (Ohio was the first state to do so in 2011, according to Refinery29), but a heartbeat bill has never officially gone into effect. Which states have introduced these bills?Ī lot. But the timing is extremely important because many people don't know they're pregnant at six weeks, essentially banning abortion for these women.
This can happen as early as six weeks, though it depends on many variables, including the technology used. "Fetal heartbeat" bills are legislation that would make abortion illegal as soon as a fetus' heartbeat can be detected. But what exactly does this type of bill entail? Below, breaks it down. One type of bill in particular, the "fetal heartbeat" bill, comes back in the news time and again as various legislatures try their hand at passing the law. Across the country, restrictive abortion bills continue to be introduced at the state level, all while President Trump is spouting anti-abortion rhetoric and nominating conservative, anti-choice judges.
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