On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed HB 481, a bill banning abortion after five to six weeks of pregnancy. It's set to take effect January 1, but at least two reproductive-rights organizations are challenging it on the grounds that it violates Roe v. Wade. In addition to banning abortion after a heartbeat can be detected, the law's personhood provisions would seem to allow for women who perform their own abortions, travel out of state for an abortion, or are found to be responsible for a miscarriage to be charged with murder. While many states have recently approved six- or 15-week abortion bans in an effort to bring a case to the Supreme Court for the purposes of overturning Roe v. Wade, Georgia's law goes further than others in holding women criminally responsible. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed the "heartbeat bill" HB 481 into law. While the bill's main goal is to outlaw abortion after five to six weeks of pregnancy, the law's provisions establish fetuses as full people under the law — meaning women could be held criminally responsible for seeking an abortion or even for having a miscarriage. Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project and the Center for Reproductive Rights told INSIDER on Tuesday that they're planning on challenging the law, which is set to take effect January 1, on the grounds that it violates Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that protects the right to abortion until the point of viability. For now, abortion is still legal in Georgia, and it will remain that way if the law, like every six-week ban that other states have attempted to enact, is struck down in court. Read more: Georgia governor signs 'heartbeat bill' restricting abortion access, setting the stage for a court battle over the law While many states have recently passed six- or 15-week abortion bans in an effort to bring a case to the Supreme Court for the purposes of overturning Roe v. Wade, the legal reporter Mark Joseph Stern pointed out in a recent Slate article that Georgia's law went further than others in the criminal penalties women would face. In addition to banning abortion after a heartbeat can be detected, the law's personhood provisions: Allow fetuses to be claimed as dependents for tax purposes. Count fetuses as people in official population surveys, which would have implications for political representation. Allow for women who perform their own abortions outside a formal medical setting to be charged with first-degree murder, which could carry a sentence of up to life in prison or the death penalty. By defining fetuses as people, the law would appear to have implications far beyond those directly addressed in its text. State prosecutors, for example, might be able to charge women whose pregnancies end in miscarriage with second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 10 to 30 years, if they can prove the miscarriage was a result of the woman's own conduct, like drug or alcohol use, as Slate argued. In a follow-up interview with Slate, Georgia State Senator and attorney Jen Jordan, who also wrote a detailed Twitter thread on the matter, explained how fetal personhood enables prosecutors to charge people who suffer miscarriages with second-degree murder. Jordan explained how a 1998 Georgia court case Hillman vs. State, prosecutors charged an 18-year old woman who shot herself in her abdomen while pregnant with attempting to "produce a miscarriage" — but a court threw out the indictment partly because they didn't want to supersede the legislature, which had then "refused to criminalize a pregnant woman's acts in securing an illegal abortion." At the time, the Court of Appeals explicitly said that changing the law to prosecute women who performed their own abortions, which HB 481 does by defining fetuses as people, could warrant "a criminal indictment for virtually any perceived self-destructive behavior during her pregnancy which could cause a late-term miscarriage, to wit: smoking or drinking heavily; using illegal drugs or abusing legal medications; driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol; or any other dangerous or reckless conduct." A woman who travels out of state for an abortion — and anyone who assists her — might similarly be charged with conspiracy to commit murder under Georgia's fetal personhood law. Critics of the law found the prospect of criminalizing some miscarriages especially alarming given that approximately one in four first-trimester pregnancies ends in miscarriage, with the vast majority resulting from genetic abnormalities. Many women miscarry before they even know they're pregnant, sometimes mistaking the bleeding from a miscarriage for a late period. Georgia isn't the only state that has begun testing the limits of the law by conferring personhood to fetuses and embryos. In Alabama, which enacted its own personhood statue in 2018, a district court gave the estate of a 6-week-old aborted embryo legal standing to sue an abortion clinic for wrongful death in a suit initiated by the embryo's would-be father. As the appellate attorney Andrew Fleischman pointed out on Twitter, establishing fetal personhood has implications not only for civil litigation but for the criminal-justice system as well, since it would extend the constitutional rights to due process, a fair trial, and the right to counsel for fetuses whose mothers have been charged with a criminal offense. Read more: The Alabama Senate floor broke out into a chaotic screaming match over a bill that would ban almost all abortions "Georgia has just passed a bill granting full 14th Amendment rights to all unborn children," he wrote. "As of this minute, Georgia is now holding thousands of citizens in jail without bond in violation of their rights. "If you're a criminal defense lawyer with a pregnant client, now is the time to petition for a guardian ad litem or juvenile attorney to represent the unborn to secure their release."<doc-sep>Georgia's new law restricting abortion access is sparking a growing outcry in Hollywood, with some production companies calling for a boycott of the state and others vowing to support the legal battle against the legislation which takes effect in 2020. At least five companies say they won't shoot projects in the Peach State unless the legislation is overturned. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed Bill 481 (the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act) on Tuesday to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That can be as early as six weeks. The bill is set to take effect in January 2020. Among those speaking out are Killer Films CEO Christine Vachon, whose company was behind critically acclaimed films Vox Lux and First Reformed, and Mark Duplass of Duplass Brothers Productions, which has deals with both Netflix and HBO. Duplass tweeted Thursday: "Don't give your business to Georgia." David Simon, the creator and executive producer behind the acclaimed series The Wire, said he cannot "ask any of my female colleagues to work in a jurisdiction that limits their health care options and impairs their civil liberties." Don’t give your business to Georgia. Will you pledge with me not to film anything in Georgia until they reverse this backwards legislation? —@MarkDuplass Killer Films will no longer consider Georgia as a viable shooting location until this ridiculous law is overturned. —@kvpi Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele, who won an Oscar for his Get Out screenplay in 2018, called the legislation "draconian" in a joint statement Friday but are taking a different approach. The filmmakers say they'll proceed with the production of their upcoming drama-horror series Lovecraft Country in the state but will donate their producer fees — the pay each receives per episode — to support organizations fighting against the ban. In March, 50 actors including Alyssa Milano, Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller and Laverne Cox signed an open letter saying they would not support production in Georgia if the anti-abortion bill was passed. "We will do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women if H.B. 481 becomes law," the letter said. Filmmakers J.J. Abrams (left) and Jordan Peele say they will not move their upcoming production out of Georgia but will instead donate their fees to organizations leading the fight against the anti-abortion bill in the state. (Getty Images) Easier said than done While many refer to Canada as Hollywood North, Georgia is considered by many to be Hollywood South because of the number of productions it hosts. There were 455 productions in the state last fiscal year. Fifteen of North America's top-grossing films in 2017 were shot in the U.S. state, according to FilmLA including Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming. That was more than in California and second only to Canada that year. Spider-Man: Homecoming was among several top-grossing films in 2017 shot in Georgia. (Marvel Studios/YouTube) Georgia offers generous incentives and credits for production companies that film there. It's also home to Pinewood Atlanta studios, a state-of-the-art soundstage and the largest in the U.S. outside Los Angeles. In 2018, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War (both produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Disney) were among the blockbusters filmed in Georgia, which has also provided the backdrop for popular television series including Atlanta, The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Ozark and Insatiable. AMC's hit zombie drama The Walking Dead was among the 455 productions shot in Georgia during the 2017-18 fiscal year. (Gene Page/AMC) Talent speaks out, major studios remain quiet Milano, who stars on Netflix's Insatiable, told Buzzfeed News she's bound by contract to finish shooting the current season but will fight "tooth and nail" to move the series out of Georgia should the bill take effect. She said if the series continues for a third season, she won't return if it remains in the state. The actress has also called for a sex strike to protest the ban. Alyssa Milano, who stars on the Georgia-filmed Netflix series Insatiable, told Buzzfeed News she would not continue for a potential third season if the state enacts its anti-abortion bill and the production doesn't move in protest. (Rich Fury/Getty Images) In 2016, both Netflix and Disney threatened to move their projects elsewhere after an anti-LGBTQ bill was signed in Georgia. The legislation was eventually vetoed by the governor at the time. The Motion Picture Association of America says film and television projects in Georgia, including the 2018 blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War, support more than 92,000 local jobs. (Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios) This time, both companies have stayed relatively quiet so far, with Netflix telling CBC News it's in accordance with the stance held by the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA told Variety that it will "continue to monitor developments" related to the abortion bill. According to the organization, film and television projects in the state support more than 92,000 local jobs. Many film and television workers in Georgia have said a boycott will do more harm than good to those trying to fight against the law. "It is important to remember that similar legislation has been attempted in other states, and has either been enjoined by the courts or currently being challenged," MPAA spokesman Chris Ortman told the publication earlier this week. The American Civil Liberties Union said it will challenge the legislation in court. Mississippi and Ohio are among the states which have signed similar bills this year. An Iowa judge struck down a "fetal heartbeat" abortion ban in that state in January, deeming it unconstitutional.<doc-sep>MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In 2019, more than a dozen states have either passed or attempted to pass stricter abortion legislation. Alabama's Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would be the most restrictive in the nation. Georgia's Gov. Brian Kemp has already signed a bill that would make performing an abortion illegal once a heartbeat is detected. That new law is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. Two other states – Ohio and Mississippi – have passed similar legislation. The bills are expected to face litigation. Here are similarities and differences between the Georgia law and the proposed Alabama law: When can you get an abortion? Current state law in both states outlaws abortion after 20 weeks unless the woman's health is at risk. Georgia's newly signed law would change the time period to six weeksof pregnancy, a time period in which many critics say many women aren't yet aware of their pregnancy. Alabama lawmakers in the House and Senate have sent a bill to Gov. Kay Ivey's desk that would ban nearly all abortions in the state at any stage of the pregnancy unless the mother’s physical or mental health is in jeopardy. In Alabama:Alabama Senate approves near-total ban on abortion; sends bill to the governor In Georgia:Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signs fetal heartbeat bill, one of most restrictive abortion laws in nation What about in cases of rape or incest? The law Kemp signed in May does include an exception in cases of rape and incest. As the law is written, it requires that the pregnancy is at 20 weeks or less and an official police report must be filed alleging the rape and/or incest. The same is currently true for Alabama but the state's House passed a bill without an exception for rape and incest. The Senate weighed an amendment from Democrats asking for an exemption in cases of rape and incest, which failed to pass. The Senate passed the bill without exemptions and sent it to the governor. Our laws:You elected them to write new laws. They’re letting corporations do it instead. Deadly deliveries: Hospitals know how to protect mothers. They just aren’t doing it. If abortions are a crime, what is the penalty? Who is liable? Currently, breaking abortion law in Georgia can be punished with imprisonment "for not less than one nor more than 10 years." The newly signed bill gives no indication as to who would be charged with penalties and what, if any, those penalties would be. Some have speculated that since the bill recognizes unborn children as "natural persons," that women who choose abortion or miscarry or the medical professionals who help them, would face murder charges, but the term has been used routinely in the previous criminal code, which the measure does not repeal. Bill breakdown:Here's what to know about the state's proposed abortion ban Abortion 'reversal'?The method is unproved, but Ohio lawmakers want women to consider it Alabama's bill would punish a doctor or abortion provider who performs a procedure with a Class A felony – punishable by life or 10 to 99 years in prison. Attempting to perform an abortion would be a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison. The woman seeking an abortion would not face charges under the bill. Alabama Rep. Terri Collins, a Republican from Decatur who sponsored the bill, says the purpose of the bill is to challenge the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. "The heart of this bill is to confront a decision that was made by the courts in 1973 that said the baby in the womb is not a person," Collins said. "This bill addresses that one issue. Is that baby in the womb a person? I believe our law says it is. I believe our people say it is. And I believe technology shows it is." Nate Chute is a producer with the USA Today Network. Follow him on Twitter: @nchute Supreme Court:Strict state anti-abortion laws aimed at Supreme Court; justices not eager to consider them<doc-sep>Photo: Getty Images Recent media coverage of Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, a new law which would make termination illegal before many women even know they’re pregnant, has painted a picture of abrupt, immediate reproductive dystopia. “Abortions after six weeks will now be illegal in Georgia,” reads a representative CNN headline from last Wednesday. By Saturday, some celebrities were going so far as to call for “sex strike,” ostensibly to pressure straight men into caring about their partners’ bodily autonomy. (Women “just cannot risk pregnancy,” Alyssa Milano wrote in a call to action on Twitter, as long as “our reproductive rights are being erased.”) Georgia is one of three states to have passed a six-week ban in the past three months — Ohio and Mississippi came first. This trend is obviously a huge cause for concern: It shows that conservative lawmakers are more confident than ever that they can successfully overturn Roe v. Wade, and it lays bare the astonishing contempt they feel for women. What it does not mean, however, is that women who’ve been pregnant for longer than six weeks in the affected states can no longer get abortions. Amid the media coverage of what the bill might mean for women, one crucial fact has been repeatedly overlooked or downplayed: Georgia’s bill isn’t set to take effect until January 1, 2020, and the two other states with similar laws are set to take effect in July. I say “are set to” because there’s a slim chance any of them will actually be enforced. They all face legal challenges from reproductive-rights groups, and will most likely be blocked by a judge. This is because, in the words of Jennifer Dalven of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, banning abortion so early on in a pregnancy is “flatly unconstitutional.” (The first-ever six-week ban, which was signed into law in North Dakota in 2013, never took effect and was permanently blocked two years later.) “Abortion is legal everywhere,” Dalven told the Cut. “These bans have not yet outlawed abortion, and we expect that we will block them before they do.” In the meantime, the well-intentioned outrage over these laws may be doing more harm than good, misleading women out of exercising their constitutional right to choice. A 2018 survey of people searching online for information about self-terminating found that a full third either didn’t know whether abortion was still legal in their home state, or they thought it had already been banned. It seems this misinformation is now proliferating in Georgia, Ohio, and Mississippi: Providers in all three states say they’ve had patients contact them in a panic, unsure of whether it’s still legal to get an abortion or whether their appointments still stood. “We had a patient call today in tears because … she just passed the six-week mark,” an employee at a Georgia clinic told Vice. “She’s just terrified.” There is a real danger here: By circulating inaccurate information about abortion, we may push desperate women to result to illegal alternatives. But the right to end an unwanted pregnancy is still protected — on paper, at least — in every state. At least for now. This is not to say that these laws don’t pose a legitimate threat. They do, as part of a larger, coordinated strategy to challenge Roe v. Wade. Abortion opponents hope that one of these bills will eventually make its way to the Supreme Court, where they’re confident the new conservative majority will rule in their favor. Like the 400-plus anti-choice restrictions passed in the last eight years, the recent rash of six-week bans is an unequivocal attack on the right to choose. But this is not an isolated or momentary crisis; it’s part of a larger, more insidious strategy. Anti-abortion lawmakers have already done everything in their power to make abortion inaccessible to large swaths of the population, forcing women to travel further, wait longer, and shoulder increasingly prohibitive costs in order to obtain essential medical care. All of this is already a reality. The six-week bans are not. But by treating them as a foregone conclusion — something that has or will become law — well-intentioned pro-choicers may be helping the conservative cause, preventing those who can still get safe and legal abortion services from seeking them out.<doc-sep>
Georgia state abortion law fuels Hollywood boycott call Published 12 May 2019 image copyright Getty Images image caption Alyssa Milano was among a number of actors pledging not to film in Georgia if the law passed A new abortion law in the US state of Georgia has fuelled calls for a Hollywood boycott from actors and production companies. Actors signed an open letter in March pledging not to work should the law - which bans most abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy - pass. Georgia is the latest state to enact legislation restricting abortion. Actress and #MeToo advocate Alyssa Milano also urged women on Saturday to join her in a sex strike in protest. Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on. pic.twitter.com/uOgN4FKwpg — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 11, 2019 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter Ms Milano's tweet divided opinion on social media, sparking a debate that led to the #SexStrike hashtag trending on Twitter in the US. What is the bill and why is it controversial? The so-called "heartbeat" bill, which was signed by Governor Brian Kemp on Tuesday, is scheduled to come into effect on 1 January. However, the law is expected to face challenges in the courts. A federal judge blocked such a law in Kentucky which was scheduled to come into effect immediately as it could be unconstitutional, while Mississippi passed a six-week abortion law in March that is not due to take effect until July and is also facing challenges. Ohio passed a similarly restrictive law in 2016 which was vetoed by the governor. Many women do not know they are pregnant by six weeks. The Georgia governor's office said film and television productions brought $2.7bn (£2.1bn) into the state in 2018. Hollywood blockbusters Black Panther and The Hunger Games series were filmed there, as were the programmes Stranger Things and The Walking Dead. What is the boycott? During the bill's passage, 50 actors proposed a boycott of film and television production in the state - including Ms Milano, Amy Schumer, Christina Applegate, Alec Baldwin and Sean Penn. "We want to stay in Georgia," the letter reads. "But we will not do so silently, and we will do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women if [this] becomes law." To @BrianKempGA & Speaker Ralston: Attached, is an open letter signed by 50 actors against #HB481. On behalf of the undersigned--as people often called to work in GA or those of us contractually bound to work in GA--we hope you'll reconsider signing this bill. #HBIsBadForBusiness pic.twitter.com/DsOmAWYU2x — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) March 28, 2019 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter Ms Milano, who stars in the Netflix show Insatiable, told Buzzfeed News she would "fight tooth and nail to move Insatiable to a state that will protect our rights" after Governor Kemp approved the legislation. While she must film in the state for at least one more month per her contract, she said she would not return for a potential third season if it is still filmed there. Other actors have also voiced their support, as have the heads of several independent production companies. Christine Vachon said her production company Killer Films - behind the acclaimed Still Alice and Carol - would not consider working in Georgia "until this ridiculous law is overturned". She was joined among others by Duplass Brothers Productions and David Simon, writer of the television series The Wire. "This law would make Georgia an inhospitable place for those in the film and television industry to work, including our members," its statement read. WGAE and @WGAWest oppose Georgia's abortion ban legislation #HB481. This draconian anti-choice law would discourage people in our industry from working in Georgia and could harm the state's vibrant film and television industry. Full statement attached. pic.twitter.com/bAfJkhXSTv — Writers Guild of America, East (@WGAEast) March 26, 2019 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter Directors JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele meanwhile have said they will continue to make their programme Lovecraft Country in the state, but vowed to donate "100% of our respective episodic fees" to groups fighting the bill.