Georgia’s Supreme Court upheld the state’s prohibition of abortion Tuesday, rejecting arguments made by doctors and advocacy groups that the law was unconstitutional when the state legislature approved it in 2019, more than three years before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The ruling means that abortion remains banned in the state, with limited exceptions, after the sixth week of pregnancy — a point when most women have not yet even realized they are pregnant.
The Georgia case is not over, because the court addressed only the question of whether the state ban should have been voided because of when it was enacted.
The court sent the case back to a lower court for a trial on the separate question of whether the state constitution protects a right to privacy, and whether that right encompasses abortion.
Still, the latest ruling in Georgia is a reminder that state constitutions have become key arbiters in the nation’s state-by-state abortion battles.
Persons:
Roe, Wade
Organizations:
U.S, Supreme, North
Locations:
Georgia’s, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Illinois, Georgia