Shortly before a blockbuster Senate hearing on legislation that would restrict most abortions, a new version of the legislation emerged.

The bill, House Bill 481, would still ban abortions in Georgia if doctors can detect a heartbeat – often as early as six weeks – aside from a few exceptions: Rape, incest, the health of the mother or medical futility.

One of the biggest additions involves a new requirement that the father of the unborn child pay for medical and pregnancy-related expenses. That provision was pushed by state Rep. Dar'shun Kendrick, a House Democratic leader who still opposes the overall bill.

The Senate version also cuts a preamble that Democrats and other critics said was inaccurate and incendiary.

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A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial for Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Wednesday, outside the Turning Point USA headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. The authorities had new leads on Thursday in their search for the person who shot and killed the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday. (Adriana Zehbrauskas/The New York Times)

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Delta employees are under investigation because of content “related to the recent murder of activist Charlie Kirk” that “went well beyond healthy, respectful debate,” CEO Ed Bastian wrote in a companywide memo Friday. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

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