Judge strikes down Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, sparking new battle over reproductive rights in key state’s Supreme Court

A judge in Georgia on Monday struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban after ruling it unconstitutional. Terminations of pregnancy are now legal in the state until about 22 weeks.

The ban first came into effect in 2022 and prohibited women from having abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his order that the law violates the Georgia Constitution.

He found that ‘freedom in Georgia in its meaning, in its protection and in its bundle of rights includes a woman’s power to control her own body, to decide what happens to her and in it, and to reject state interference with her to point out. choices in health care.’

With the state’s attorney general appealing, the decision sets up another potential battle at the Georgia Supreme Court over reproductive rights.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending a national right to abortion, it opened the door for state bans.

Thirteen states now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.

Georgia was one of four countries where the ban comes into effect after about the first six weeks of pregnancy – often before women realize they are pregnant.

McBurney’s ruling would allow abortions for at least 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Kara Murray, spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, said he would immediately appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The state Supreme Court previously reversed a separate ruling by McBurney, which struck down the law on several grounds and allowed Monday’s ruling to be stayed pending an appeal.

“We believe that Georgia’s act of life is completely constitutional,” Murray said.

The bans have been deeply felt in the South, as many people live hundreds of miles away from states where abortion procedures can be legally obtained. If the ruling in Georgia stands, it could open new avenues for access to abortion, not only in Georgia, but also for people in nearby states.

The Georgia law was passed by state lawmakers in 2019 and signed by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, but was initially blocked before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to abortion for nearly fifty years.

Kemp has tried in the past to soften its political impact by focusing on maternal health. On Monday he attacked the ruling.

“Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge,” Kemp said in a statement. “Protecting the lives of the most vulnerable among us is one of our most sacred responsibilities, and Georgia will remain a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn.”

Carol Tobias, chair of the National Right to Life Committee, called the ruling “ridiculous.”

“This judge is an activist judge who ignores rulings of higher courts to do what he wants,” she said in an interview. “And I don’t think it will last.”

Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, celebrated the ruling.

“Ever since we’ve seen these direct attacks here in the South, particularly on access to abortion, we’ve been on deep defensive for a very long time,” she said. “It feels like our work hasn’t been in vain.”

While Carafem, an abortion provider in Atlanta, plans to expand its services as permitted in the coming weeks, co-founder Melissa Grant said she fears a reversal.

“Staff and clients will have to live with this possibility of immediate change, which can be devastating for people trying to plan their lives and manage their health,” Grant said.

Kwajelyn Jackson, executive director of the Feminist Women’s Health Center, another abortion provider in Atlanta, said they “will not turn patients away based on the presence or absence of fetal heart activity, and so as long as we are able to do that, we are hopeful . that we can care for patients who need our services.”

Georgian law banned most abortions once there was a “detectable human heartbeat.” Heart activity can be detected by ultrasound in the cells of an embryo, which will eventually become the heart after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Before the law went into effect, more than 4,400 abortions took place in Georgia every month. That has fallen by about 2,400 per month since the ban began in 2022, according to data from the Society of Family Planning.

The ruling means the state’s law will return to its previous status, allowing abortions up to about 20 weeks into pregnancy, McBurney wrote.

The right to privacy in the Georgian constitution includes the right to make personal health care decisions, he wrote.

“If a fetus growing inside a woman becomes viable, if society can assume the care and responsibility of that individual life, then – and only then – can society intervene,” McBurney wrote.

An “arbitrary six-week ban” on abortions “is contrary to these rights and to the proper balance that a rule of viability establishes between women’s rights to freedom and privacy and the social interest in the protection and care of unborn children.” , the order said.

Claire Bartlett, executive director of the Georgia Life Alliance, expressed confidence that the Georgia Supreme Court would overturn McBurney again, saying he had wrongly tried “to create a right to abortion out of thin air by finding that this was our constitution stands.

“It’s just ironic that based on his decision on Georgia’s constitutional protection against deprivation of life, liberty or property, which was the argument, he chose to focus on a woman’s right to liberty instead of the child’s right to life. Bartlett said.

In part because Georgia has no way for citizens to put initiatives to the vote, no referendum on abortion rights is scheduled for this year’s Georgia elections. But Democrats have focused on abortion because it appeals to women and suburbanites.

Last month, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Atlanta to portray Republican Donald Trump as a threat to women’s freedom and lives, warning that Trump would further restrict access to abortion if re-elected. It’s also a key issue in state legislative races as Democrats try to secure a Republican majority.

Harris’ visit came after ProPublica reported that two women in the state died after not receiving proper medical treatment due to complications from taking abortion pills to end their pregnancies. Democrats argue that such deaths were a predictable result of restrictive laws

Harris has spoken out about the right to abortion since the Supreme Court ruling more than two years ago.

The vice president also said last month that she supports ending the Senate filibuster to pass abortion rights protections, as legislation to federally protect access to abortion has stalled since the overturning of Roe V Wade .

Democrats have been trying to pass legislation restoring abortion protections in Roe v Wade since the landmark decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022.

However, Democrats need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster in the Senate, but only have a majority of 51 seats.