Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates 6-Week Abortion Ban

by · Forbes

Topline

Abortions after six weeks of pregnancy will be illegal in Georgia as of Monday evening, as the Georgia Supreme Court halted a ruling that struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban, once again putting the Southern state among more than a dozen states that now restrict abortion.

Abortion rights supporters protest outside the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on ... [+] June 25, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Court's decision in the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health case overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case, removing a federal right to an abortion. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)Getty Images

Key Facts

The Georgia Supreme Court paused the ruling that struck down the abortion ban, meaning the law will take effect again while the appeals process plays out until the state Supreme Court can issue a more lasting ruling—other than one part of the law that allows health records to be turned over to district attorneys, which will not be reinstated.

Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney overturned the law in a ruling on Sept. 30, finding the ban unconstitutional under state law, because Georgia’s right to “liberty” includes “the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her health care choices.”

The state Supreme Court did not explain its decision to reinstate the law, only saying that it would take effect again at 5 p.m. Monday.

All the justices agreed with the ruling to reinstate the law—other than two who didn’t participate or were disqualified—except for Justice John J. Ellington, who concurred with the decision not to reinstate the provision on health records, but disagreed with allowing the rest of the law to take effect.

Georgia “should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution” while the appeals process plays out, Ellington wrote, arguing the state didn’t prove why it’s “urgent” that the law be reinstated.

“This decision is unconscionable,” Monica Simpson, who leads the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective that brought the case, said in a statement Monday, adding the court “sided with anti-abortion extremists.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.