Abortion rights protestors in Atlanta in June. Photo: Ben Gray/AP
A Superior Court judge in Fulton County has denied advocates' request to temporarily halt the implementation of the state's six-week abortion ban pending a state-level lawsuit.
Driving the news: In a Monday ruling, Judge Robert McBurney said he was "making no finding on the merits of this important litigation" and that the constitutionality of the law "remains to be answered." But he said the law would remain in effect in the meantime.
Why it matters: After the state's law was upheld in federal court following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, advocates turned to state court, in the hope that Georgia's Constitution might offer a different legal avenue to challenge it.
What they're saying: Julia Kaye, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement that it's "horrifying" that the law remains in effect.
- "Georgia’s state Constitution clearly protects against this government overreach, and we won’t stop fighting until this devastating ban on essential health care is blocked once and for all.”