Article snippet: Lawmakers around the country are passing bills restricting abortion that could one day factor into a challenge to Roe v. Wade under a Supreme Court whose balance of power is newly tilted toward conservatives. In the latest example, Alabama’s governor signed a bill banning abortion in nearly all cases. The move in Alabama comes just weeks after Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, signed into law a restrictive new ban on many abortions in that state. The so-called fetal heartbeat law bans abortions once a heartbeat can be detected, often after just five or six weeks, and before many women know they are pregnant. Georgia previously banned abortions after 20 weeks. Women’s reproductive groups say such heartbeat bills effectively ban most abortions outright. Many women, according to the CDC, won’t know they are pregnant for four to six weeks, meaning that by the time they’ve learned they are, it’s too late to obtain an abortion, especially if the woman lives in a state that requires a waiting period. Still, antiabortion advocates see an opening for implementing new abortion restrictions in the wake of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, which pushed the balance of power in favor of conservatives. Activists hope challenges to abortion laws will reach the Supreme Court, where Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed the right to abortion, can be overturned or weakened. Highly restrictive abortion proposals are cropping up in state l... Link to the full article to read more