‘Heartbeat law’ in effect again after Georgia Supreme Court ruling

(The Center Square) – Stoppage of Georgia’s abortion law banning abortion after six weeks has been stayed by the state Supreme Court, giving time for the attorney general’s appeal to be heard.

The General Assembly passed a ban on abortion after six weeks, or when a fetal heartbeat is detected, in 2019. Once the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, returning authority to the states, the law took effect.

Judge Robert McBurney said the law was unconstitutional on Sept. 30 and Attorney General Chris Carr appealed. Monday’s ruling allows the law to remain in effect while the appeal is making its way through the courts.

The concurring judges did not offer a formal opinion in the order.

Justice John Ellington agreed with the stay but said he didn’t agree that the matter was urgent.

“In its motion, the State fails to show any reason for urgency that goes beyond their underlying arguments in favor of allowing the State to prevent women from deciding whether to terminate a pregnancy after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected and before a fetus is viable,” Ellington said in the filing.

The case was filed by SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, the American Civil Liberties Union, and others.

“This ban is rooted in white supremacy and intensifies an already dire situation in Georgia, where Black women are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy complications compared to white women, largely due to the absence of Medicaid expansion, a shortage of OBGYNs and a healthcare system rife with inequities since its founding,” Monica Simpson said in a release.

She’s executive director, SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective.

She added, “Despite all evidence that this ban is killing us, the court sided with those more interested in limiting our access to care than seeing us live and thrive.”