Keller @ Large: Georgia's New Abortion Law Could Also Be A Political Move
BOSTON (CBS) -- Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed one of the strictest abortion laws in the country Tuesday. The so-called Heartbeat Bill bans abortion after about six weeks when a fetal heartbeat is detected, with the usual exceptions.
Pro-choice advocates are promising a legal fight -- but that may be exactly what the bill's supporters are looking for.
Pro-choice activists are especially alarmed because Georgia is the sixth state to enact this law bill. Laws in Iowa and North Dakota were struck down at the state and federal level, and comparable bills enacted this year in Kentucky, Ohio, and Mississippi are all facing legal challenges.
By contrast, Massachusetts recently passed laws with bipartisan support strengthening abortion rights.
While Gov. Charlie Baker said, "this is a very personal and important issue for people and I've always supported a woman's right to choose," the new state Republican Party chairman, Jim Lyons, has branded one pending law "infanticide."
After signing the Georgia law, Kemp said: "I realize some may challenge it in the court of law, but our job is to do what is right, not what is easy."
But the rise of the Heartbeat Law is seen as a direct assault on the Roe v. Wade protections of early-term abortion rights, with a right-leaning Supreme Court waiting in the wings.
"Roe v. Wade is an important precedent" was as far as Justice Brett Kavanaugh would go during his nomination hearings last year. So, would the new conservative majority on the court necessarily overturn Roe v. Wade?
Kavanaugh and Chief justice John Roberts sided with the liberals on the court late last year when they refused to hear cases aimed at defunding abortion services, but they've also in the past voted the other way.
That's why the race is on to force the issue before the next election can possibly shift the court's makeup again.