The Georgia Supreme Court Monday reinstated Georgia’s six-week abortion ban while the state appeals last week’s Fulton County Superior Court decision declaring the law unconstitutional.
Judge Robert McBurney ruled the Living Infants and Equality (LIFE) Act the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed in 2019 violates women’s privacy and equal protection rights. The law prohibits abortions in Georgia after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically about six weeks into pregnancy, with exceptions including rape, incest, and threats to the life of the mother.
McBurney’s decision came in a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs including the reproductive rights group SisterSong and Planned Parenthood two years ago after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. The Georgia law had not been allowed to take effect until the high court ruling in the Dobbs case.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr quickly asked for last week’s decision overturning Georgia’s abortion ban to be stayed pending the state’s appeal.
