North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum on Monday (Apr 24) signed into law a bill that would ban most abortions, creating an exception for rape and incest victims but only during the first six weeks of pregnancy.
The law, which makes it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion, provides other exceptions including to save the life of the mother or in cases where her health is at serious risk. But rape and incest victims would have to carry their pregnancies to term unless “the probable gestational age of the unborn child is six weeks or less”, Senate Bill 2150 says.
The bill cleared both houses of the North Dakota legislature with veto-proof majorities and is the latest to pass in a Republican-led state since the US Supreme Court last year overturned the federal right to an abortion, enabling states to impose restrictions.
At least 13 states have enacted abortion bans while North Dakota joins a number of other states to ban abortion after a certain period of gestation, ranging from six to 20 weeks.
Source: CNA
