Georgia Supreme Court reinstates 6-week abortion ban

• A reversal of reproductive rights for women in Georgia.
• The Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the 6-week abortion ban.
• What does it mean?

The Georgia Supreme Court reinstated a six-week abortion ban in the state. In a terse ruling, the court suspended a lower court’s decision to strike down the ban while it considered an appeal according to The Associated Press.

Abortion providers who had resumed performing abortions after the sixth week will have to stop again, according to the news agency. Seven of the nine judges on the court voted in favor of the ruling, one was disqualified and one did not participate.

Surprising decision by the Georgia Supreme Court

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Nov. 15 that the state’s abortion ban was invalid because, when he signed it into law in 2019, Supreme Court precedent under Roe v. Wade allowed abortion after six weeks.

«The State of Georgia’s Emergency Petition for Supersedeas seeking a stay of the Fulton County Superior Court’s order in the above-referenced action is hereby granted,» the Court said in the decision, according to CNN.

Providers cautiously resumed performing abortions again before the ruling

The previous court’s ruling found the measure unconstitutional, with Justice McBurney noting: «The supreme law of this land was unequivocal, and had been for nearly half a century, that laws that unduly restricted abortion before it became feasible were unconstitutional.»

Faced with that decision, abortion providers resumed the practice, but cautiously, fearing the decision of the state supreme court. Georgia imposed the ban in July, after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The law prohibits most abortions as soon as there is a «detectable heartbeat,» according to the AP.

At 6 weeks many women don’t even know they are pregnant

Ultrasound makes it possible to detect cardiac activity from the sixth week of pregnancy in the cells of an embryo that will eventually form the heart. This means that most abortions are prohibited before many women even know they are pregnant, according to AP.

According to local media WSB-TV, the Georgia Supreme Court suspended that order from a lower court while it examines an appeal by the state attorney general, according to EFE. Filed Under: Georgia Reinstates Abortion Ban

Activists warned of the worst

This 2019 regulation was launched three years before the US Supreme Court revoked the federal guarantees to abortion on June 24, leaving the decision in the hands of each state, according to EFE. With the McBurney ruling now suspended by the state Supreme Court, abortions are no longer permitted past six weeks of pregnancy.

The judge had warned that despite his decision, the six-week ban could become law in Georgia at some point now that the federal supreme court has revoked that right. Filed Under: Georgia Reinstates Abortion Ban