On Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the state’s six-week abortion ban, voiding certain provisions of the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act. The act had established certain limitations and provisions surrounding access to abortion within the state.
The Supreme Court determined that the trial court had erred in overturning the LIFE Act by relying on since-overruled United States Supreme Court decisions concerning the United States Constitution. This had led to the declaration that the LIFE Act was void ab initio. The case had been returned to the trial court for determination on whether the six-week ban violates the due process, equal-protection, and/or inherent-rights provision of the Georgia Constitution.
The LIFE Act had been approved before the landmark US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 decision providing constitutional protection for an individual’s right to an abortion. This act bans abortions as soon as cardiac activity can be detected, often as early as six weeks into pregnancy, further requiring doctors to ascertain the presence of a heartbeat before they perform an abortion. Moreover, doctors would also have to report to the Department of Public Health if they perform an abortion.
The Georgia General Assembly originally approved the LIFE Act in March 2019 but was declared unconstitutional by a federal court in July 2020. In July 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the lower federal court ruling, reinstating the act by citing to Dobbs, stating that no right to abortion exists “under the Constitution”. Consequently, Georgia could now prohibit abortions. Interestingly, a Georgia state judge overturned the LIFE Act in November 2022 for being unconstitutional. The following month, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the LIFE Act, but it was immediately appealed.
The case will subsequently return to the trial courts for final decision.
Read more on the matter here.