Georgia's Supreme Court on Monday blocked a lower court's ruling last week that allowed abortions up to 22 weeks instead of six weeks, considering an appeal by the state.
The order from the state Supreme Court comes from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who said abortion must be regulated the same way it was before the Heartbeat Act went into effect, meaning abortions are allowed up to 22 weeks into pregnancy. It was issued one week after the ruling was handed down.
The Associated Press reported that Justice John J. Ellington dissented from the McBurney decision, saying, “This case should not be predetermined in the state's favor before the appeal is docketed.”
“The state should not enforce laws that have been determined to violate the fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution,” Ellington wrote. “The 'status quo' to be maintained is the state of the law before the law in question came into force.”
Georgia judge overturns the state's six-week 'heartbeat' abortion law as 'unconstitutional'
Georgia's Supreme Court on Monday reinstated an earlier abortion law banning abortions after six weeks, overturning a previous court ruling last week. (Stephanie Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the “Heartbeat” abortion bill (also known as the Infant Justice and Equality Act) into law in 2019. The law made abortion illegal after six weeks of birth.
McBurney called the law “unconstitutional.”
“The framers of our state and federal constitutions entrusted to future generations a charter that protects the rights of all to enjoy freedom as we learn its meaning,” McBurney said in his final order last week. said. “After considering our high court's interpretation of 'freedom,' we find that freedom in Georgia includes, among its meanings, protections and bundles of rights, the ability to control one's body and what happens to it. It is shown to include a woman's power to decide and reject state interference in her health care choices.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signs controversial 'Heartbeat' bill
A decision handed down last week by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney means abortions may be allowed up to 22 weeks. (AP Photo/Ben Gray/File)
“But that power is not unlimited,” the judge added. “When the fetus growing inside a woman reaches a state of viability and society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then, and only then, can society intervene. is.”
McBurney went on to argue that laws banning abortions after six weeks are inconsistent with these rights, and that the survival rule establishes between a woman's right to protect and care for her unborn child and society's interests. He said it was also inconsistent with the right balance.
The law Kemp signed in 2019 included exceptions for rape and incest if reported to police.
Georgia abortion laws: A look back at what Hollywood production companies have said about filming in the state
Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed a “heartbeat” abortion bill in 2019. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
The law signed by Kemp was blocked in October 2019 before it went into effect by a federal judge, who ruled that it violated abortion rights established in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case.
The Supreme Court then struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022, clearing the way for Georgia's abortion law to go into effect.
McBurney ruled in November 2022 that the law was “plainly unconstitutional” because it was enacted in 2019 during Roe v. Wade, which allowed abortions after six weeks. I put it down.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
However, in October 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in a 6-1 decision that McBurney's decision was wrong.
McBurney's decision last week ruled that states, counties, cities and other local governments are “prohibited” from enforcing six-week abortion laws.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
