Current:Home > InvestJudge strikes down Georgia ban on abortions, allowing them to resume beyond 6 weeks into pregnancy-LoTradeCoin
Judge strikes down Georgia ban on abortions, allowing them to resume beyond 6 weeks into pregnancy
View Date:2024-12-24 10:18:26
ATLANTA (AP) — 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.”
When the U.S. 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.
Georgia’s law was passed by state lawmakers and signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019 but had been blocked from taking effect until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to an abortion for nearly 50 years.
The law prohibited most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” was present. Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart around six weeks into a pregnancy.
McBurney wrote that his ruling means the law in the state returns to what it was before the law was passed in 2019.
“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,” McBurney 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.
veryGood! (479)
Related
- Infowars auction could determine whether Alex Jones is kicked off its platforms
- Elizabeth Warren on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands
- Treat Yourself to a Spa Day With a $100 Deal on $600 Worth of Products From Elemis, 111SKIN, Nest & More
- Lily-Rose Depp Confirms Months-Long Romance With Crush 070 Shake
- Britney Spears Reunites With Son Jayden Federline After His Move to Hawaii
- States Vowed to Uphold America’s Climate Pledge. Are They Succeeding?
- CRISPR gene-editing may boost cancer immunotherapy, new study finds
- Hillary Clinton Finally Campaigns on Climate, With Al Gore at Her Side
- NFL coaches diversity report 2024: Gains at head coach, setbacks at offensive coordinator
- Rebuilding collapsed portion of I-95 in Philadelphia will take months, Pennsylvania governor says
Ranking
- Louisiana House greenlights Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax cuts
- National Teachers Group Confronts Climate Denial: Keep the Politics Out of Science Class
- The Twisted Story of How Lori Vallow Ended Up Convicted of Murder
- Pennsylvania Ruling on Eminent Domain Puts Contentious Pipeline Project on Alert
- Elon Musk responds after Chloe Fineman alleges he made her 'burst into tears' on 'SNL'
- UN watchdog says landmines are placed around Ukrainian nuke plant occupied by Russia
- Sen. Marco Rubio: Trump's indictment is political in nature, will bring more harm to the country
- You can order free COVID tests again by mail
Recommendation
-
All the Ways Megan Fox Hinted at Her Pregnancy With Machine Gun Kelly
-
Exxon’s Big Bet on Oil Sands a Heavy Weight To Carry
-
Bloomberg Is a Climate Leader. So Why Aren’t Activists Excited About a Run for President?
-
Why Alexis Ohanian Is Convinced He and Pregnant Serena Williams Are Having a Baby Girl
-
College football Week 12 expert picks for every Top 25 game include SEC showdowns
-
Full transcript of Face the Nation, June 11, 2023
-
Man dies after eating raw oysters from seafood stand near St. Louis
-
Today’s Climate: September 20, 2010