US state could make abortion "equivalent" to murder

A US state has signed into law a proposal that would make it illegal to have an abortion just a few weeks into a pregnancy.

From next year, the southern state of Georgia Starting on January 1, will ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks, when many women do not know they are pregnant.

Opponents have likened the bill to making abortion equivalent to murder in Georgia.

They say the bill could put woman’s lives in danger or even mean a woman who gets an illegal abortion being sent to prison for life.

Currently, women in the state can get abortions until 20 weeks of pregnancy.

But the man who signed the bill, Governor Brian Kemp, was unrepentant.

“(The bill) is very simple but also very powerful: a declaration that all life has value, that all life matters, and that all life is worthy of protection," he said.

“I realize that some may challenge it in a court of law. But our job is to do what is right, not what is easy. We are called to be strong and courageous, and we will not back down. We will always continue to fight for life.”

Backers of the bill shrugged off criticism and said there were other options for women than abortion, including adoption and the “morning after” pill.

The law would effectively outlaw most abortions.

Though the law offers exemptions in cases where there is rape, incest, or dangers to the mother's health, many women will not know they are pregnant until after they have missed the option of having an abortion.

A legal challenge seems inevitable.

Critics say the legislation “would ban safe, legal abortion and criminalize the most intimate decision women and couples make.”

Women have protested dressed in red cloaks in the style of the “Handmaid’s Tale”.

National opponents include Hillary Clinton said the proposed law amounted to a total ban on abortions in the state.

She said the proposed law “threatened women’s lives and freedoms”.