Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, reversing a lower court's ruling as it reviews an appeal.

The ban will go into effect at 5 p.m. local time, but allows some exceptions, such as to protect the life and health of the mother, and some situations where a fetal anomaly is detected, per NBC News.

The lower court lifted the state ban on abortions after six weeks last month, which made it legal for the first 22 weeks of pregnancy. The initial six-week ban was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp nearly five years ago, but did not go into effect until 2022.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his opinion last month that women in Georgia have the right to "control [their] own [bodies], to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with [their] healthcare choices."

“That power is not, however, unlimited,” McBurney wrote. “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.”

Multiple reproductive rights groups slammed Monday's ruling in statements, claiming that it has sowed uncertainty and "wreaked havoc" on the lives of many voters.

“It is cruel that our patients’ ability to access the reproductive health care they need has been taken away yet again," Feminist Women’s Health Center executive director Kwajelyn Jackson said in a statement. "This ban has wreaked havoc on Georgians’ lives, and our patients deserve better."

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.