Georgia Supreme Court allows state abortion law to go back into effect
The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked a Fulton County Superior Court ruling that overturned the state's abortion law.
A Fulton County Superior Court judge on Nov. 15 ruled that Georgia's law banning most abortions after six weeks is illegal as the law was unconstitutional at the time it was passed. The ruling took immediate effect statewide.
Read: Order in the Supreme Court of Georgia case considering the state abortion law
Within hours, the office of the Attorney General in Georgia filed a notice of appeal, asking the Supreme Court of Georgia to review the ruling. They also asked the court to block the ruling in the interim, which the court has now done.
It was a busy day for the Supreme Court, which also ruled on Wednesday that Saturday early voting could go ahead in the Senate runoff.
Lower court blocks abortion law
Fulton County Judge Robert C.I. McBurney wrote that according to precedent, a law that was unconstitutional when it was passed remains unconstitutional. That applies to Georgia's 2019 abortion bill, known as the LIFE Act, or the "heartbeat bill," colloquially.
"If the courts have spoken, clearly and directly, as to what the law is, as to what is and is not constitutional, legislatures and legislators are not at liberty to pass laws contrary to such pronouncements," McBurney wrote in his decision.
Previous ruling: Fulton Superior Court overturns 'heartbeat bill' banning most abortions in Georgia
Abortion and elections: Abortion stirs emotions. How Georgia candidates are using the issue to get voters to the polls
The lawsuit was brought in July by organizations providing reproductive health services in Georgia. It was filed after the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the abortion law – blocked under the federal court decisions at the time it was passed – could finally be put into law after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade. Many of the plaintiffs are the same as those who sued in federal courts to stop the statewide ban.
The ruling would not prevent the state Legislature from passing a similar or even more restrictive ban under the new constitutional framework of Dobbs v. Jackson, the ruling earlier this year that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. Still, the organizations that brought the suit celebrated the ruling as a win, while abortion opponents condemned the ruling.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia's abortion law is back after ruling from state Supreme Court
