Laws banning most abortions at the point of the “first detectable heartbeat” are beginning to take effect across the country, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Friday to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure in 1973. Such laws, often referred to as “fetal heartbeat bills,” ban abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which can happen around six weeks into pregnancy, although a timeframe typically isn't specified in the measures.
Swift court actions in states including Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee revived laws stalled under Roe in the decision's wake. That has left some people who were planning abortions — and the clinics lined up to provide them — scrambling.
