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Posted: 2019-06-28T15:32:14Z | Updated: 2019-06-28T15:32:14Z

The American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood sued the state of Georgia on Friday to block a six-week abortion ban Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed in May.

It was the latest lawsuit in a campaign to push back on recent abortion bans introduced across the U.S. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood sued Arkansas on Wednesday for its 18-week abortion ban.

The Georgia bill bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, purportedly once a fetal heartbeat is detectable by doctors, with the exceptions for rape and incest and if the patient is at risk of death or severe harm. It will begin to take effect on Jan. 1, 2020. People who perform abortions could face up to 10 years in prison.

The ban is in particular an attack on low-income Georgians, Georgians of color, and rural Georgians, who are least able to access medical care and least able to overcome the cruelties of this law, the groups argue in the lawsuit, which names numerous defendants, including Kemp and Attorney General Christopher Carr (R).

The groups filed the suit on behalf of womens health organizations and clinics, including SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, Feminist Womens Health Center, Planned Parenthood Southeast, Atlanta Comprehensive Wellness Clinic and others, representing the organizations themselves, their physicians and staff, and their patients. They filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

The plaintiffs argued the vague language in the bill is dangerous for clinicians, who could potentially face prosecution for medical care they provide to pregnant patients with possible risk to an embryo.

The threat of criminal liability is likely to have a chilling effect on health care providers across Georgia, shaping provider and patient decisions about a wide range of health conditions and restricting treatment options for people who are pregnant or perceived to be capable of pregnancy, the complaint reads.

Many doctors argue that the term heartbeat bill is inaccurate . Using the term heartbeat for the arbitrary ban at six weeks does not reflect medical accuracy or clinical understanding, Dr. Ted Anderson, the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists told the Guardian.