The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case on one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, a North Dakota law banning the procedure once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
The court indicated Monday it won’t take up the case, leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling last summer that blocked the law. Passed by the North Dakota legislature in 2013, the measure banned abortions earlier than any other state law in the country. A fetal heartbeat can often be detected around six weeks of pregnancy.
In its ruling striking down the law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit said the measure violates the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade ruling that said states can’t prohibit abortions before viability, commonly recognized as around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Other states including Arkansas and Texas have passed “heartbeat” laws, but they’ve also been blocked by courts.
Abortion rights groups applauded the Supreme Court for declining to hear the case.
“Whether in North Dakota, Arkansas or Texas, politicians simply cannot rob women of their constitutional rights,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “This utterly cruel and unconstitutional ban would have made North Dakota the first state since Roe v. Wade to effectively ban abortion — with countless women left to pay the price.”
