Dem Georgia lawmaker on heartbeat bill: Women will die ‘because of this law’

A Georgia state lawmaker on Monday said that the state’s “fetal heartbeat” abortion bill, which was approved by the House on Friday, would cause women to die.

{mosads}“Let me be clear: Women are going to die because of this law because they cannot get appropriate health care from OBGYNs in this state,” State Sen. Jen Jordan (D) said in an appearance on CNN.

“This bill is going to affect every aspect of every woman’s life in the state of Georgia.”

“Let me be clear: Women are going to die because of this law because they cannot get appropriate health care from OBGYNs in this state,” says Dem. Georgia state @senatorjen, appearing with her GOP counterpart to discuss Georgia’s strict anti-abortion bill. https://t.co/YaApuiOeaG pic.twitter.com/x8vsIRr5wY

— New Day (@NewDay) April 1, 2019 

The bill, which still needs to be approved by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, would limit abortions after a fetus’s heartbeat is detected, which happens as early as the first six weeks of pregnancy, a time frame in which many women don’t even know they are pregnant. 

Kemp has vowed to sign the law, which would be the toughest abortion law in the country.

A speech by Jordan on Saturday in which she spoke out against the bill went viral this weekend.

She revealed that she had been pregnant 10 times but had given birth only twice because of miscarriages, saying that the right to a woman’s privacy was “at stake” with the bill.

“Matters such as a woman’s ability to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy involve the most intimate and personal decisions a person can make,” Jordan said. “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of meaning, of the universe and of the mystery of human life.”

Georgia GOP members have pushed back against characterizations of the bill as dangerous to women.

“This bill provides nothing but further protections for women from any kind of prosecution,” State Rep. Ed Setzler (R) said in an appearance on CNN in response to Jordan.

Republicans in several other states have pursued similar “heartbeat” bills in recent months despite the legal challenges they have faced from women’s rights groups.