A state Superior Court judge in Georgia overturned a law on Tuesday that banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and once a baby's heartbeat is detected.
As reported by CBN News, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney's ruling immediately took effect across the Peach State, legalizing abortions up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed a lawsuit against the ban in July. The group claimed that the ban violated the state Constitution's privacy and liberty protections by forcing pregnant women to carry and birth their children. McBurney, however, did not hand down the ruling on that claim.
The ACLU expects abortions past six weeks of pregnancy to resume at some clinics as early as this week amid the ruling.
According to McBurney, the heartbeat law was invalid because it first passed in 2019, three years before Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill had been blocked from taking effect until July of this year following the Supreme Court's decision. Legislators can revisit the ban.
Kara Richardson, a spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, told the Associated Press in an email that the office filed a notice of appeal and "will continue to fulfill our duty to defend the laws of our state in court."
Andrew Isenhour, a spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp (R), argued that McBurney's ruling places "the personal beliefs of a judge over the will of the legislature and people of Georgia."
"The state has already filed a notice of appeal, and we will continue to fight for the lives of Georgia's unborn children," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Republican State Rep. Ed Setzler, who sponsored the law, believes that the state Supreme Court will overrule McBurney's decision and allow the ban to take effect once again.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Olga Kurbatova
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
