Anti-abortion bill clears Georgia Senate committee

ATLANTA (AP) — Abortion rights activists chanted "shame" as Republicans on a Georgia Senate committee moved Monday to ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

The Senate Science and Technology Committee approved the bill on a party-line vote of 3 to 2. The legislation, backed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, has passed the House and now could go quickly to the floor of the GOP-controlled Senate.

Republicans are moving to enact tough abortion restrictions in the state legislatures they control, even though they're certain to be challenged in court. Similar "heartbeat" bills just passed the Ohio Senate and the Tennessee House, and are advancing in Mississippi, Florida, and South Carolina.

They're hoping the U.S. Supreme Court — with new Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — will uphold state laws that undermine the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling establishing the right of women to abort a fetus that can't survive outside the womb.

Courts have repeatedly struck down similar laws. A state judge found Iowa's "heartbeat" law to be unconstitutional in January. Last week, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of "heartbeat" measure in Kentucky.

In Georgia today, women have the legal right to seek abortions during the first 20 weeks of a pregnancy. A fetal heartbeat is generally detectable at around six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant.

The proceedings inside the Capitol have been fraught with tension and emotional arguments from lawmakers and advocates on both sides, some of whom shared personal abortion stories. The issue has drawn large crowds — mainly protesters against the bill. Troopers urged activists to stay calm in the hallways on Monday, warning they'd arrest anyone who continued to chant.

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