Tennessee passes bill that bans abortions after heartbeat is detected

The Tennessee state legislature this week passed a bill outlawing abortion after the point that a fetal heartbeat is detected, possibly setting the state up for a protracted court battle involving abortion rights asserted by the Supreme Court several decades ago. 

The law stipulates that an abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat can only be performed if the mother's life would be significantly endangered by the lack of it. 

In the event an abortion is deemed necessary, doctors are ordered to certify the emergency condition which necessitated it, the law states. 

Tennessee already bans abortions after "viability," a term used to describe when unborn humans are likely to survive outside the womb. That cutoff is generally seen to kick in around the 24th week of pregnancy, though babies younger than that have been born and survived; the youngest premature baby in the world survived a 21-week gestation. 

The ACLU has already filed suit against the bill. Abortion jurisprudence generally dictates that states may not enact strict bans on abortion prior to the last three months of pregnancy.