Actress Alyssa Milano, who ignited the social media hashtag and cultural movement #MeToo has urged women to abstain from sex in response to new proposed laws in Georgia. In effect, the new laws will ban abortions once a heartbeat is detected, which can be felt as early as six weeks. This has been the cause of controversy because the detection of a heartbeat can occur before many women are aware they are pregnant.

More about the law

The law is not scheduled to come into effect until 1 January 2020, however, it has naturally caused quite a stir as to whether it infringes on female reproductive rights. However, Georgia is not the first state to be looking at passing legislation of this kind. Alabama introduced a similar bill last Thursday; however, it is yet to be passed.

Furthermore, the governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, signed into effect a ‘heartbeat law’, which enforces similar regulation. It is one of the strictest abortion bans in the US. The Mississippi law is set to come into effect in July of this year.

Mixed response to Milano’s hashtag

Milano’s call for women to abstain from sex has received a mixed response from commentators. Bette Midler commended Milano’s stance, however, several feminist commentators suggested that abstinence would seemingly punish women as well as men. Ironically, many Republicans and conservative critics praised the movement since it encourages abstinence and safer approaches to sex.