The Georgia Supreme Court has reinstated the state’s six-week abortion ban, halting a lower court’s decision that briefly expanded access to abortion. The ruling, which went into effect at 5 p.m. Monday, prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy while the state’s appeal is under review.
The law, known as the LIFE Act, was originally signed by Governor Brian Kemp in 2019 but did not go into effect until July 2022, following legal challenges and the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. The law bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically around six weeks. The law includes exceptions to protect the health of the mother and for certain fetal anomalies.
Last week, a Fulton County judge temporarily overturned the ban, permitting abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. Judge Robert McBurney ruled that the concept of liberty under Georgia law includes a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, though he noted that state intervention could occur once a fetus reaches viability.
The state Supreme Court’s decision also left intact a portion of McBurney’s ruling that blocked a provision of the LIFE Act granting prosecutors broad access to the medical records of abortion patients. That provision remains under review.
This ruling adds further uncertainty to the state’s abortion landscape as the legal battle continues, and it is unclear what long-term effects it will have on access to abortion services in Georgia.
