Requirement to determine presence of detectable human heartbeat of unborn child

(a) Except in the case of a medical emergency or when a pregnancy is diagnosed as medically futile, no abortion shall be performed or attempted to be performed unless the physician performing such procedure has first made a determination of the presence of a detectable human heartbeat, as such term is defined in Code Section 1-2-1, of an unborn child. (b) In addition to any criminal or civil penalties provided by law, failure by any physician to conform to any requirement of this Code section constitutes unprofessional conduct for purposes of paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of Code Section 43-34-8 relating to medical licensing sanctions. History. — Code 1981, § 31-9B-2, enacted by Ga. L. 2012, p. 575, § 3/HB 954; Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 10/HB 481. Delayed effective date. — This Code section, as set out above, becomes effective January 1, 2020. For version of this Code section in effect until January 1, 2020, see the 2019 amendment note. The 2019 amendment, effective Janu- ary 1, 2020, substituted ‘‘performing such procedure has first made a determination of the presence of a detectable human heartbeat, as such term is defined in Code Section 1-2-1, of an unborn child’’ for ‘‘performing it has first made a determination of the probable gestational age of the unborn child or relied upon such a determination made by another physician’’ in subsection (a); and substituted ‘‘In addition to any criminal or civil penalties provided by law, failure’’ for ‘‘Failure’’ at the beginning of subsection (b).