Georgia, United States

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday (Oct 7) reinstated a law that prohibits abortions in pregnancies over six weeks. 

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This comes just a week after the six-week abortion ban was struck down by a lower court. At the time, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that Georgia's so-called "heartbeat" abortion law was unconstitutional.

"Liberty in Georgia includes... 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."

Also read | Georgia judge overturns US state's abortion ban, calls abortion law 'unconstitutional'

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"That power is not, however, unlimited," he added. “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,” said the judge.

With this ruling, the state would have once again allowed abortions up until fetal viability — around 22 weeks of pregnancy.

How was the ruling overturned?

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The ruling has not been overturned, rather it is on hold. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, has appealed the lower court ruling. On Monday, Georgia Supreme Court put the ruling on hold while the appeal is being heard.

Also read | Pregnant women in Texas facing ‘terrifying’ health crisis; maternal deaths surge 56% after abortion ban: Study

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court upheld a conservative lower court's ruling that hospitals in Texas are not obligated to perform emergency abortions under federal law.

White House slams decision

The US White House has voiced its opposition to the Georgia and Texas decisions.

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the Supreme Court decision "means that women in Texas could still be denied critical emergency medical care because of the state's dangerous and extreme abortion bans".

"The stories we hear of women being denied care they need in emergency situations is completely unacceptable," she said.

Also read | US Supreme Court rejects Biden's bid to enforce emergency abortions in Texas

The Georgia abortion ban

In Georgia, the law, known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, bans abortions after an embryo's cardiac activity can be detected. This is usually around six weeks when most women don't even realise they are pregnant.

The law was passed by Georgia's Republican-dominated state legislature in 2019 and went into effect in 2022 after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade — the nationwide right to abortion.

(With inputs from agencies)