UPDATE: ‘Heartbeat’ bill becomes law in Tennessee

UPDATE, 1:30 p.m.

A federal court judge has granted a temporary injunction to Tennessee’s ‘heartbeat bill’ that was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee Monday mid-morning.

U.S. District Judge William Campbell in Nashville opted to wait for the bill to become law to rule on whether to block it. In granting the temporary restraining order Monday, he wrote that he’s “bound by the Supreme Court holdings prohibiting undue burdens on the availability of pre-viability abortions.”

Supporters of these types of bills hope lawsuits over them head to an increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of ending the constitutional right to abortion protected under the 1973 Roe v. Wade landmark ruling.

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“Thank you for joining me this morning in what I believe is a historic moment—the signing of, arguably, the most conservative, pro-life piece of legislation in the country,” said Governor Bill Lee during a live broadcast on social media from Nashville as he placed his signature on the state’s ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill.

The law prohibits a woman from receiving an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected which is usually in the sixth week of the term.

Pro-choice supporters including the ACLU and Planned Parenthood had already filed injunctions in federal court just hours after lawmakers approved the bill last month.

“It’s our responsibility to protect the most vulnerable in our community and certainly the most vulnerable in Tennessee includes the unborn,” the governor said.

(PHOTO: State of Tennessee / Office of the Governor / Facebook)