Georgia's Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the state's six-week abortion ban, blocking a trial judge's ruling just a week earlier that overturned the law.
The order goes into effect at 5 p.m. Monday and will remain in place until the state's appeal is heard.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled on Sept. 30 that the right to “liberty” guaranteed in the state constitution includes the right to make decisions about one's own health care.
“Whether you claim freedom or privacy (or equal protection), this debate is fundamentally about having control over your body and what happens in it, and rejecting state interference in your medical choices. “It concerns the scope of women's rights to .
The state appealed the ruling two days later.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed the ban in 2019, but it was blocked from going into effect until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
This law prohibited abortions after fetal heart activity was detected (usually about six weeks into pregnancy, before most people realize they are pregnant).
The state Supreme Court left in place a portion of the trial court's decision that blocked another provision of the law that would have given state district attorneys broad access to the medical records of abortion patients in their respective counties.
Monica Simpson, executive director of the Sistersong Women's Reproductive Justice Collective, one of the plaintiffs in the case, called the court's decision “unconscionable.”
“Georgians suffer every time this harmful six-week abortion ban goes into effect,” Simpson said in a statement. “Despite all the evidence that this ban is killing us, the courts have decided to side with those who are more interested in restricting our access to care than in helping us live and thrive.” The right to bodily autonomy transcends party affiliation. It is a human right that every Georgian deserves.”
