Washington D.C. [USA], Apr 1 (ANI): Georgia lawmakers on Friday (local time) passed a bill that restricts abortion after a heartbeat is detected in an embryo, which is typically about six weeks into a pregnancy.

Washington Post reported that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is expected to sign the bill into law.

“Georgia values life. We stand up for the innocent and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. The legislature’s bold action reaffirms our priorities and who we are as a state. I thank these lawmakers for their leadership and applaud their undeniable courage. #gapol,” Kemp tweeted.

However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia has promised legal action if the Governor goes ahead with the decision to transform the bill into law.

“Governor Kemp, if you sign this abortion ban into law, we will sue and see you in court to fight this blatant attack on the rights and dignity of Georgia women and families,” the Union said in a statement.

“For 50 years the Supreme Court has said that banning abortions before the point of viability is unconstitutional. Every judge that has heard a challenge to such abortion bans has struck them down,” Sean J. Young, the legal director of the ACLU, was quoted as saying by the New York Times on Saturday.

In addition, the bill has also garnered criticisms and protests by abortion rights advocates, who claimed that the rule overturns the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision, which legalised abortion until a fetus is viable outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

The bill received 92 votes on Friday, while 78 representatives, including some Republican lawmakers, opposed the measure.

The voting came shortly after state Representative Ed Setzler, who sponsored the new law, called it an effort to establish full legal protections for fetuses and called it an attempt to outlaw abortion “in the highest courts of the land.”

“This bill recognizes the fundamental life of the child in the womb is worthy of legal protection,” Setzler noted.

The bill would effectively change the limit on abortion in Georgia to six weeks from 20 weeks, only allowing exceptions to prevent death or serious harm to the woman, and in cases of rape or incest in which a police report has been filed. (ANI)