Georgia’s GOP Gov. Kemp signs early abortion ban

Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has signed legislation banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That can be as early as six weeks before many women know they’re pregnant.

The signing Tuesday morning caps weeks of protests at the state Capitol and marks the beginning of a possibly costly legal battle.

ACLU of Georgia legal director Sean Young said the new law is unconstitutional and the ACLU would challenge it in court.

Anti-abortion activists and lawmakers across the country have been energized by the new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Several GOP-controlled states are pushing abortion bans in an attack on the high court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Similar bans have been signed into law in Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio, and are being considered elsewhere.