ATLANTA — A significant lawsuit challenging Georgia’s restrictive abortion law is set to return to a trial court. The court will determine whether the plaintiffs have the legal standing necessary to challenge the law.
On Thursday, the Georgia Supreme Court voted 6-1, directing the trial court judge to revisit standing issues in light of a recent ruling that altered state law regarding who can file lawsuits.
Currently, a decision made by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney in September, which invalidated the abortion law, is temporarily on hold.
Earlier this year, the court determined that only individuals and organizations whose own rights are directly affected can bring lawsuits in Georgia, reversing a previous rule allowing third parties to sue on others’ behalf.
The lead plaintiff in the case, a reproductive justice collective, has yet to release a comment regarding the ruling. Legal representatives are also awaiting further clarification before providing a statement.
In his earlier ruling, Judge McBurney asserted that Georgia’s law, prohibiting abortions after approximately six weeks, violates women’s constitutional rights by limiting personal healthcare choices often before women even realize they are pregnant.
Enacted in 2019 by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia’s law is part of a broader trend of restrictive abortion measures implemented in several Republican-led states following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. The law bans most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” is present, typically around six weeks into a pregnancy when cardiac activity can be identified through ultrasound.
Twelve states currently enforce bans on abortions at all stages of pregnancy, while four states prohibit abortions around the six-week mark. Notably, voters in Missouri recently overturned a near-total abortion ban, leading to the resumption of abortion services last week.
In his ruling, Judge McBurney emphasized that “liberty in Georgia entails the right of a woman to govern her own body and to determine her healthcare choices without state interference.” He further noted that societal intervention is only justifiable when a fetus reaches viability, around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
