Judge Strikes Down Georgia's Abortion Ban

A Georgia judge on Monday struck down the state's abortion law, which took effect in 2022 and effectively prohibited abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his order that "liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices," the AP reports.

• When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and ended a national right to abortion, it opened the door for state bans. Fourteen states now bar abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Georgia was one of four where the bans kick in after about the first six weeks of pregnancy—which is often before women realize they're pregnant.

• The impact of bans has been felt deeply in the South because many people have to travel hundreds of miles to states where abortion procedures can be obtained legally. The Georgia ruling, if it stands, could open up new avenues to access abortion not only for residents of the state, but for people in nearby states who currently face long trips to places like North Carolina or Illinois.
• Georgia's law was passed by state lawmakers and signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019, but it was initially blocked from taking effect until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to an abortion for nearly 50 years.
• Kemp attacked the ruling Monday. "Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge," he said in a statement. "Protecting the lives of the most vulnerable among us is one of our most sacred responsibilities, and Georgia will continue to be a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn."

• McBurney wrote that his ruling means the law in the state returns to what it was before the law was passed in 2019, allowing abortions until roughly 20 weeks into a pregnancy. "When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then—and only then—may society intervene," the judge wrote.
• An "arbitrary six-week ban" on abortions "is inconsistent with these rights and the proper balance that a viability rule establishes between a woman's rights of liberty and privacy and society's interest in protecting and caring for unborn infants," the order says.

(More abortion stories.)