Georgia Court Invalidates Abortion Ban but State Supreme Court Reinstates Ban During Appeal

“Women are not some piece of collectively owned community property the disposition of which is decided by majority vote,” said Judge Robert McBurney, writing for the majority. “Forcing a woman to carry an unwanted, not-yet-viable fetus to term violates her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy.”  

CCR, Georgia's Six-Week Abortion Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

A Georgia state court ruled on September 30 that the state’s six-week abortion ban is unconstitutional and abortion is protected under the Georgia constitution’s fundamental right to privacy. The ruling by the Superior Court of Fulton County permanently blocked the ban, which prohibits abortion before many know they’re pregnant.***

The ruling in SisterSong v. State of Georgia allows Georgians to once again access abortion care in the state beyond the earliest weeks of pregnancy. 

In its ruling, the court held that:

• The state constitution’s strong protection of the fundamental right to privacy prohibits political interference with an individual’s abortion decision before viability.
• The exclusion of mental health from the ban’s narrow medical emergency exception violates equal protection.
• Another provision of the law giving district attorneys broad access to the medical records of abortion patients also violates Georgians’ right to privacy.

The ruling comes just weeks after ProPublica reported stories linking the tragic and preventable deaths of two Georgia women, Candi Miller and Amber Nicole Thurman, to Georgia’s abortion ban.

CCR, Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates Abortion Ban

The 19th, Supreme Court of Georgia Rules to Reinstate the State’s Six-Week Abortion Ban