The Supreme Court denied a North Dakota abortion case Monday, leaving the state unable to enforce a ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Lower court rulings had deemed the 2013 law unconstitutional, so it never went into effect.
Fetal heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, The Associated Press reports. Pro-choice advocates have characterized North Dakota's pro-life law as the strictest in the nation.
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