Georgia heartbeat abortion law: AG appealing judge’s decision to overturn law

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ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has filed an appeal after a Fulton County judge overturned the state’s controversial heartbeat abortion law.

Carr and the Attorney General’s Office filed a notice of appeal on Tuesday, according to Fulton County court documents. Carr is asking the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate the law while the appeal is heard.

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The state’s abortion law took effect in 2022 and made it illegal for doctors to perform abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. Since then, the law has been tied up in court battles.

On Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney issued an order overturning the law.

“A review of our higher courts’ interpretation of ‘liberty’ includes the power of a woman to control her own body and to decide what happens to it and in it,” McBurney wrote in his ruling.

The new ruling now allows the procedure up until 22 weeks of pregnancy.

This ruling follows the state Supreme Court’s reversal of a 2022 ruling from McBurney, where he said the 2019 law had been passed illegally since Roe v. Wade was the law of the land at the time.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

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