Georgia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams sparked intense criticism online after making the outlandish claim that fetal heartbeats are “manufactured sound” to undermine abortion. On Wednesday, Abrams claimed that “no such thing” as a fetal heartbeat exists at six weeks of pregnancy. “There is no such thing as a heartbeat at six weeks,” Abrams said at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center in Atlanta. “It is a manufactured sound designed to convince people that men have the right to take control of a woman’s body.” Abrams was undoubtedly taking aim at the 2019 Georgia law that banned most abortions in the state after doctors can detect a fetal heartbeat, which usually happens around six weeks. Since most women do not learn of their pregnancy in the first six weeks, the law effectively bans all abortion in the Peach State. Though the law faced numerous hurdles, it finally went into effect this year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
