Georgia governor signs ‘heartbeat bill,’ giving the state one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a controversial “heartbeat” bill into law on Tuesday, outlawing most abortions once a doctor detects what some call “a fetal heartbeat in the womb,” usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.

His signature could launch a court battle that supporters hope will challenge abortion rights all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill was signed Tuesday morning in the governor's ceremonial office at the state Capitol.

Kemp said he upholds his promise to enact the "toughest abortion bill in the country."

"Georgia is a state that values life," Kemp said before putting his signature to the LIFE Act. "We stand up for those who are unable to speak for themselves."

Kemp said he recognizes the bill will be challenged.

"But our job is to do what is right, not what is easy," Kemp added. "We will not back down. We will always continue to fight for life."

The bill has been called draconian by Democrats, medical lobbies and civil rights organizations along with women's rights leaders and celebrities who have opposed the measure, and protested the bill for months.

"The Handmaid Coalition of Georgia," marched to the statehouse to protest the legislation, chanting "shame" and "dissent" while clad in the red cloaks and white bonnets of characters in "The Handmaid's Tale," a book and TV series that depicts a dystopian future where women are enslaved to rear children. The protesters have been an almost daily presence, along with heavy security.

The #ReclaimGeorgia campaign by NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates aims to spend six figures to mobilize activists and "put unprecedented pressure" on supporters of the measure ahead of next year's election.

Laura Simmons, the NARAL state director, said it's designed to "educate voters and put lawmakers on notice that advocates for reproductive freedom will not let legislators off the hook for turning their backs on women and families by voting to criminalize abortion and punish women."

With two new conservative justices on the Supreme Court, those against abortion want to test the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

Doctors who oppose the legislation, however, say what appears to be a heartbeat at six weeks is simply a vibration of developing tissues that could not exist without the mother. Georgia law now bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The ACLU and other critics have vowed they will bring a lawsuit targeting the legislation - and promised electoral payback as well.

Talcott Camp, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, released the following statement in response to Governor Kemp's signing of the ban:

"Governor Kemp put politics before the health and well-being of Georgia women and their families. In a state with a devastatingly high maternal mortality rate, particularly for Black women, politicians should be focused on improving health care access for all women, not banning abortion before most women know they're pregnant. This bill is part of an orchestrated national agenda to push abortion care out of reach and we won't stand for it. Governor Kemp, we will see you in court."

More than 15 states have introduced similar measures and three - in Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio - have been signed into law. A federal judge has already blocked Kentucky's law. Other courts struck down similar laws that were recently enacted in Iowa and North Dakota.

Like some other versions, Georgia's law includes exceptions for incest, rape and situations of medical futility or where the health of the mother is at stake.

But there is controversy in Georgia because unlike others it says a fetus as a “natural person” and “human being” once a heartbeat is detected.