BISMARCK, N.D. (AP Mar 15, 2013) – The North Dakota Senate has approved banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
 
     If Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple signs the measure, North Dakota would have the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S.
 
     The measure approved by the Senate on Friday would ban most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
 
     It’s one of several anti-abortion bills the Legislature has weighed this session.
 
     The Senate on Friday also passed a measure that would make the state the first to ban abortions based on genetic defects such as Down syndrome.

The president and CEO of an abortions right group is calling on North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple to veto a bill that passed the Legislature Friday that would ban abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
 
     Nancy Northup is the president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She says politicians in North Dakota are leading “anti-choice extremists to see who can do the most to strip women of their dignity and autonomy and endanger their lives.”