ATLANTA– Georgia’s Republican attorney general has appealed a judge’s ruling overturning the state’s abortion ban.
Attorney General Chris Carr’s office is asking the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate the law banning most abortions after the first six weeks or so of pregnancy while the court considers the state’s appeal.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Monday that the ban in effect since 2022 violated women’s rights to liberty and privacy under the Georgia state constitution. Her ruling returned the state’s abortion limits to a previous law that allowed abortions until they were viable, about 22 to 24 weeks after the start of a pregnancy.
Some Georgia clinic officials have said they will begin accepting patients whose pregnancies last more than six weeks, although they are aware the ban could be reimposed quickly.
Carr’s office said in its notice of appeal filed Tuesday that the case went directly to Georgia’s highest court because it involved a challenge to the constitutionality of a state law.
The judge’s ruling left 13 U.S. states banning abortion at all stages of pregnancy and three U.S. states banning it after the first six weeks or so of pregnancy.
