Georgia’s six-week abortion ban is unconstitutional, according to a Fulton County superior court judge, allowing for later abortions in pregnancies.
The injunction prevents Georgia from enforcing the six-week restriction, which went into effect in 2022. Before the moratorium, abortions could continue until approximately 22 weeks of pregnancy.
Judge Robert McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court stated in his order that “the state’s interest in protecting ‘unborn’ life is compelling, but until that life can be sustained by the state… the balance of rights favors the woman.”
“For these women, the liberty of privacy means that they alone should choose whether they serve as human incubators for the five months leading up to viability,” according to McBurney. “It is not for a legislator, a judge, or a commander from The Handmaid’s Tale to tell these women what to do with their bodies during this period when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb any more than society could—or should—force them to serve as a human tissue bank or to give up a kidney for the benefit of another.”
When the Supreme Court overturned the famous Roe v. Wade ruling in 2022, Georgia became one of the states to implement an automatic prohibition. The 2019 Georgia law came into effect, prohibiting abortions after the discovery of heart activity, typically around six weeks into a pregnancy.
A representative for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said that the state would appeal. The Georgia Supreme Court might grant a stay, putting McBurney’s decision on hold while the appeals process takes place.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who signed the six-week moratorium, issued a statement following McBurney’s decision, saying: “Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by one judge’s personal beliefs.” 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 unborn.
