Appeals court allows Georgia abortion law to take effect

By KATE BRUMBACK and JEFF AMY
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling and allowed Georgia’s restrictive 2019 abortion law to take effect immediately. 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. That’s before many women realize they’re pregnant. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday 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. The Georgia law had been barred from taking effect.