Nov. 15 (UPI) — A judge on Tuesday overturned Georgia‘s six-week abortion ban, ruling that it is not constitutional.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said Tuesday that the law was unconstitutional when drafted, voted upon, and enacted. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law in 2019.
“Everywhere in America, including Georgia, it was unequivocally unconstitutional for governments — federal, state, or local — to ban abortions before viability,” McBurney said.
The law bans abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, at roughly six weeks. It also redefined the word “person” in Georgia to include an embryo or fetus at any stage of development.
The law had been blocked from taking effect, until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.
According to ABC News, groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective — filed a lawsuit arguing the ban violates the right to privacy.
On Tuesday McBurney added that Georgia’s legislature has to pass a new law in the current political landscape, and “in the sharp glare of public attention,” for it to be legal.
“Under Dobbs, it may someday become the law of Georgia, but only after our Legislature determines in the sharp glare of public attention that will undoubtedly and properly attend such an important and consequential debate whether the rights of unborn children justify such a restriction on women’s right to bodily autonomy and privacy,” McBurney said.
