The Centre for Reproductive Rights found that there were some inconsistencies in these laws; Specifically, Arkansas law requires providers to use an abdominal ultrasound to try to detect a fetal heartbeat, while North Dakota law allows the use of any available technology, including a transvaginal probe that can detect a fetal heartbeat earlier than an abdominal ultrasound. [32] Under North Dakota law, detecting an embryo`s heart rhythm at six weeks of pregnancy requires the use of a transvaginal ultrasound, which some in the abortion rights movement call unnecessarily invasive. [33] “(1) without determining, according to normal medical practice, whether the fetus has a detectable heart rhythm; Texas Right to Life called the bill`s signing a “revolutionary victory,” but said a more comprehensive measure still awaits a vote in the legislature. Instead, individuals can file a civil action against a person who performs an abortion in violation of the law or helps someone obtain an illegal abortion. Therefore, the only way for an abortion provider to defend itself against law enforcement is to wait for a private actor to sue and make its contrary argument that the law itself is unconstitutional. A fetal heart rate law had already been introduced in Texas by Phil King on July 18, 2013, after Rick Perry signed Texas Senate Bill 5. [209] [best source needed] The legislation was not passed. [210] [211] The bill (HB 1500) was co-authored by Members of Parliament Phil King, Dan Flynn, Tan Parker and Rick Miller. [212] As of February 26, 2019, HB 1500 had 57 sponsors or co-sponsors of the 150-member Texas House of Representatives. [213] Former state senator Wendy Davis called HB 1500 “the most dangerous I`ve ever seen.” [214] Anti-abortion groups argue that heart rate “is the universally accepted indicator of life” and must be protected as such.

[18] Proponents of reproductive rights, on the other hand, say that these bans are de facto complete abortion bans, as many women do not even know they are pregnant six weeks after their last menstrual period. that is, four weeks after fertilization. [1]:1 [11][19] On September 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court (5-4) rejected an urgent motion to amend Texas SB`s abortion law. 8, which is known as the Texas Heartbeat Act and allows the law to come into effect. The law, the most restrictive abortion law in the United States, prohibits abortions after detecting the presence of a fetal heartbeat, which can occur as early as six weeks after a woman`s pregnancy, and makes exceptions only for medical emergencies. It allows any private citizen to sue Texas abortion “providers” who violate the law, as well as anyone who “supports or assists” a woman who is receiving the procedure. However, patients who have undergone an abortion themselves cannot be prosecuted. The law makes no exceptions for rape or incest. The person bringing the lawsuit is entitled to at least $10,000 in damages if they win in court. 25. In March 2015, another heartbeat bill (House Bill 69) was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives.

[170] The Guardian reported that “the bill is unlikely to go further as it faces fierce opposition from the Senate and Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich.” [171] Supporters of the new law hope to circumvent legal challenges that have linked abortion restrictions in the courts. While abortion providers typically sue the state to prevent a restrictive abortion law from going into effect, there is no state official to enforce Senate Bill 8 — so there`s no one who can sue, say supporters of the law. Two bills to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected were submitted to the Kentucky General Assembly in 2019. [119] Senator Matt Castlen issued SB 9 on September 8. He was elected to the Kentucky Senate in January 2019. [120] On February 14, 2019, SB 9 left the Kentucky Senate by a vote of 31 to 6. [121] The bill entered the House of Representatives on February 15, 2019. [122] Damon Thayer, the Republican leader of the Senate, said SB 9 was “absolutely” a priority for the House and said he would be happy if it became law and ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. “It would be the pinnacle of my career,” he said.

[123] On March 14, 2019, the Kentucky House passed SB 9 by a vote of 71 to 19. [124] In April 2019, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging it, and a federal judge blocked the execution pending the district court`s final decision. House Bill 490, which bans abortions after a heartbeat can be detected, passed 73-29 in the Alabama House on March 4, 2014. This made it the first state to pass such a law. [83] The bill died on the Order Paper in committee. [84] More than 300 Texas lawyers opposed the bill and said it undermines the longstanding rules and principles of the legal system, including the fact that a person must be hurt to sue. In June 2021, 18-year-old Paxton Smith, a high school graduate, gave a high school graduation speech in which she looked at Texas` heartbeat law rather than one pre-approved by her school, saying, “I can`t give up this platform to promote complacency and peace when there`s a war on my body and a war on my rights.” The speech went viral and was seen by millions of people on YouTube, TikTok and Twitter. [221] Representative Gregory Chaney introduced HB 366 on April 13, 2021, which would prohibit abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The bill passed the House of Representatives on April 16, 2021 by a vote of 53 to 16 and the Senate on April 21, 2021, by a vote of 25 to 7, and was subsequently signed into law by Governor Brad Little on April 29, 2021. [111] The law provided exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and when the mother`s life is in danger.

[112] The Act comes into force if another similar prohibition is upheld by the Court of Appeal. [113] [best source needed] A six-week abortion ban or a ban on premature abortion, called by proponents the “Heart Rhythm Act” or “Fetal Heart Rhythm Act,” is a form of legislation restricting abortion in the United States. [1] [2] These bans make abortion illegal as early as the sixth week of pregnancy (two or three weeks after pregnancy) when proponents claim that a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected.