Georgia’s law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected is back in effect following a state Supreme Court ruling on October 7. A lower court had issued a stay suspending the law from going into effect. At least for now, abortions are once again prohibited after heartbeat detection while the legal challenge to it goes into effect.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ruled that Georgia’s Constitution grants residents liberty, and therefore they somehow have a right to kill their babies. (It wasn’t a very good argument.) In a one-page order from the Supreme Court, McBurney’s stay against the law going into effect was overturned. The high court didn’t bother with an explanation for their ruling.
Georgia’s law states that an abortion is legal from the moment when a baby’s heartbeat is detected in the womb. Exceptions are in place for rape, incest, and any (nonexistent) medical situation in which a pregnancy somehow endangers the life of the mother. A provision in the law that would provide abortion-related health records to district attorneys is still blocked.
The pro-life bill was passed by the Georgia legislature in 2019 and went into effect in 2020. Liberal groups immediately sued the state to try to overturn the law, claiming that the Georgia Constitution somehow guarantees a right to abortion. It’s an odd argument since the Georgia Constitution never mentions abortion, but here we are.
The stay against McBurney’s order could become permanent or he may ultimately withdraw it. The fallout over the bill comes on the heels of the US Supreme Court decision that finally overturned Roe v. Wade. The voters in the 50 states now get to sort out whether to keep abortion legal or to impose some restrictions on the practice, as Georgia has done.
