October 7, 2024
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday halted a ruling striking down the state's near-ban on abortions while it considers the state's appeal.
The high court's order came a week after a judge found that Georgia unconstitutionally prohibits abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Sept. 30 that privacy rights under Georgia's state constitution include the right to make personal healthcare decisions.
The state Supreme Court put McBurney's ruling on hold at the request of Republican state Attorney General Chris Carr, whose office is appealing.
Mike Griffin, public affairs representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said, "The best news from the Georgia Supreme Court today is that this stay as requested by Attorney General Chris Carr is going save lives immediately!"
Clare Bartlett, executive director of the Georgia Life Alliance, called the high court's decision "appropriate,” fearing that without it, women from other states would begin coming to Georgia for surgical abortions.
“There’s no there’s no right to privacy in the abortion process because there’s another individual involved,” Bartlett said. She added: “It goes back to protecting those who are the most vulnerable and can’t speak for themselves.”
Griffin agreed, saying, "This is an important issue because protecting all innocent human life includes those who are inside the womb."
Georgia's law, signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019, was one of a wave of pro-life measures that took effect in Republican-controlled states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. It prohibited most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” was present. At around six weeks into a pregnancy, cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in an embryo’s cells that will eventually become the heart.
Georgia has a separate criminal law that makes illegal abortions punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providers, but not for women having abortions. In addition, the 2019 ban puts physicians at risk of losing their medical licenses if they perform unpermitted abortions.
The Georgia Supreme Court's one-page order Monday exempted one specific provision of the state's abortion law from being reinstated.
With no explanation, the court said the state can't enforce a subsection of the law that reads: “Health records shall be available to the district attorney of the judicial circuit in which the act of abortion occurs or the woman upon whom an abortion is performed resides.”
Thirteen U.S. states are now enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and four ban abortions around the sixth week of pregnancy.
McBurney's decision rolled back abortion limits in Georgia to a prior law allowing abortions until viability, roughly 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Kemp has blasted McBurney's decision, saying: "The will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge.”
