A state court judge on Monday blocked a Georgia law
banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, finding it violated the
rights to privacy and liberty guaranteed by the state constitution.
The order from Fulton County Superior Court Judge
Robert McBurney allows abortions to resume for now, though the state can appeal
to have the law reinstated.
The law bans almost all abortions after a "human
heartbeat" is detected, typically around six weeks, before many women know
they are pregnant. It was passed in 2019 but did not take effect until the U.S.
Supreme Court in 2022 overturned its longstanding Roe v. Wade precedent, which
had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide.
McBurney's ruling comes after a trial in a lawsuit
challenging the law brought by the Atlanta-based SisterSong Women of Color
Reproductive Justice Collective.
"Today's win was hard-fought and is a significant
step in the right direction towards achieving Reproductive Justice in
Georgia," SisterSong executive director Monica Simpson said in a
statement, while adding that "every day the ban has been in place has been
a day too long."
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented
SisterSong in court, said it would fight any effort by the state to appeal.
A spokesperson for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a
Republican, said the state "will continue to be a place where we fight for
the lives of the unborn."
"Once again, the will of Georgians and their
representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge,"
the spokesperson said.
McBurney previously blocked the abortion ban in
November 2022 on narrower grounds, but the state's Supreme Court quickly
overturned that ruling and sent the case back to McBurney for trial.
In Monday's decision, McBurney said the Georgia law
violated women's basic rights. He ruled that the state could ban abortion only
after fetal viability.
"Women are not some piece of collectively owned
community property the disposition of which is decided by majority vote,"
he wrote. "Forcing a woman to carry an unwanted not-yet-viable fetus to
term violates her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy, even taking into
consideration whatever bundle of rights the not-yet-viable fetus may
have."