Georgia’s Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the state’s ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The big picture: The ruling, which goes into effect Monday, comes one week after a lower court struck down the ban and allowed abortions to legally take place until about 22 weeks of pregnancy.
- The six-week ban will remain in place indefinitely while the state’s appeal proceeds through Georgia’s high court.
Catch up quick: Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney struck down the ban last Monday, ruling that it violates the state Constitution.
- McBurney had also struck the law down in 2022, but the Georgia Supreme Court last year overturned that ruling, allowing the law to remain in effect and sending the underlying lawsuit back to the lower court.
Context: The state law, which took effect in 2022, prohibits abortions from the time cardiac activity is detected in an embryo — generally at about six weeks, which is before many people know that they are pregnant.
What they’re saying: Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collaborative and the plaintiff in the case, called it “disappointing but not surprising.”
- She said, “It’s shameful to use our bodies for political gain instead of advocating for the safety and health of all Georgians.”
- Georgia’s Republican Attorney General Chris Carr in a statement commended the high court “for granting our request to allow the LIFE Act to once again take effect, and we will continue to defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Georgia.”
- The office of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment.
Zoom out: Abortion access is a key issue in the 2024 presidential election, and Vice President Kamala Harris has made reproductive rights central to her campaign.
- As part of that effort, she has highlighted the case of Amber Nicole Thurman, a Georgia woman who died after she was denied immediate care due to the state’s restrictive laws.
- Thurman’s 2022 death is considered the first publicly reported death caused by delayed abortion care.
