North Dakota Senate approves "heartbeat" abortion ban from Reuters: Politics BISMARCK, North Dakota (Reuters) - The North Dakota Senate approved what would be the most restrictive abortion law in the United States on Friday, a measure banning the procedure in most cases once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks. feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/PoliticsNews/~3/so0SQ_0byxs/us-usa-abortion-northdakota-idUSBRE92E10320130315