ATLANTA — Georgia’s Republican attorney general has appealed a judge’s decision to struck down the state’s abortion ban.
Attorney General Chris Carr’s office is asking the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate the law bans most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy while the court hears the state’s appeal.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Monday that the ban, which has been in place since 2022, violated women’s rights to liberty and privacy under the Georgia state constitution. His decision rolled back abortion limits in the state to a previous law that allowed abortions until viability, roughly 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Some Georgia clinic officials said they would begin accepting patients whose pregnancies have gone beyond six weeks’ gestation, although they are aware that the ban could be reinstated quickly.
Carr’s office noted in its notice of appeal filed Tuesday that the case is going directly to the Georgia Supreme Court because it involves a challenge to the constitutionality of a state law.
The judge’s decision left 13 US states with bans on abortions at any stage of pregnancy and three barring them after the first six weeks of pregnancy.