Georgia Supreme Court allows 6-week abortion restriction to stay in place
Breccan F. Thies
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The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled early Tuesday morning that the state’s six-week abortion restriction could remain in effect while litigation continues through the courts.
The majority opinion authored by Justice Verda Colvin overturned a Fulton County ruling in November when Judge Robert McBurney ruled against Georgia’s abortion law.
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Colvin sent the case back to Fulton County in order for the court to review the constitutional merits of the law. “The trial court erred in concluding, based on since-overruled decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, that the LIFE Act violated the U.S. Constitution when the Act was enacted,” she wrote.
“The holdings of United States Supreme Court cases interpreting the United States Constitution that have since been overruled cannot establish that a law was unconstitutional when enacted and therefore cannot render a law void ab initio,” Colvin, an appointee of Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), continued.
Kemp signed the heartbeat law in 2019, which has seen legal challenges ever since.
Last year, a federal appeals court judge allowed the law to take effect immediately less than a month after Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24. However, McBurney overturned the restriction in November, saying it was unconstitutional when it was originally signed.