Federal appeals court, citing Roe v. Wade reversal, lets Georgia's "heartbeat" abortion law take effect
CBSN
Atlanta — A federal appeals court overturned a lower court ruling and allowed Georgia's restrictive 2019 abortion law to take effect immediately Wednesday. The decision was expected after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that there is no constitutional right to an abortion.
The law, which had been barred from taking effect, 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, before many pregnancies are detected.
The Georgia law includes exceptions for rape and incest, as long as a police report is filed. It also allows for later abortions when the mother's life is at risk or a serious medical condition renders a fetus unviable.
Strong storms with damaging winds and baseball-sized hail pummeled Texas on Tuesday, leaving more than one million businesses and homes without power as much of the U.S. recovered from severe weather, including tornadoes, that killed at least 24 people in seven states during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Actor Richard Dreyfuss is facing backlash for allegedly sharing remarks that audience members found sexist, homophobic and generally offensive at a Q&A event over the weekend tied to a Massachusetts theater's screening of "Jaws." Dreyfuss starred in the 1975 blockbuster that was filmed in Massachusetts and screened Saturday night at The Cabot, a performing arts center in the coastal community of Beverly.