Judge Rules Georgia's Six-Week Abortion Law Unconstitutional

A Fulton County Superior Court judge declared Georgia's "heartbeat" abortion law violates the state's constitution on Monday. Though further legal action is expected, abortions are now legal in Georgia up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.

The Details: Judge Robert McBurney issued the ruling, asserting that abortion is protected by the Georgia constitution's guarantee of "liberty." The law was passed in 2019 and went into effect in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The decision will likely be appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Key Quote: Judge McBurney said judicial precedent "liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body... 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."

How the Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) and the Georgia Recorder (Center) noted that McBurney had struck down the law in 2022 only to be overruled 6-1 by the Georgia Supreme Court. Fox also pointed out the law's exceptions for rape and incest. Axios (Lean Left) mentioned that abortions in Georgia had "dropped by roughly half" since the law went into effect.

Dive Deeper: AllSides recently published an analysis of a two-part ProPublica investigation that tied Georgia's "heartbeat" law to the deaths of two women.