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Georgia judge overturns state’s six-week ‘heartbeat’ abortion law, calls it 'unconstitutional'

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Georgia judge overturns state’s six-week ‘heartbeat’ abortion law, calls it 'unconstitutional'


A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, has overturned the state’s “Heartbeat Law” on abortion, which made it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after six weeks.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney issued the order on Monday, saying abortions must be regulated the way they were before the “Heartbeat Law” went into effect, meaning abortions could be allowed until the 22-week mark.

“The authors of our Constitutions, state and federal, entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning,” McBurney wrote in his final order. “A review of our higher courts’ interpretations of ‘liberty’ demonstrates that liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.

“That power is not, however, unlimited,” the judge added. “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.”

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GEORGIA SUPREME COURT REJECTS CHALLENGE TO ABORTION LAW

Anit-abortion activists hold signs outside the U.S. Supreme Court after overturning of Roe Vs. Wade, in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2022.  (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

McBurney continued, saying a law that prevents abortions after six weeks was inconsistent with those rights as well as the proper balance that a viability rule establishes between a woman’s rights and society’s interests in protecting and caring for unborn infants.

He then declared the “Life Act” as “unconstitutional.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the “Heartbeat” abortion bill, also known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act,” into law in 2019. The law made abortions after the six-week mark illegal.

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GEORGIA GOV. BRIAN KEMP SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL ‘HEARTBEAT’ BILL INTO LAW

An abortion-rights demonstrator holds a sign during a rally, May 14, 2022. (AP)

There were exceptions written into the law, including rape and incest, as long as a police report was filed. Another exception to the law allowed for abortions after six weeks if the mother’s life was at risk or if a serious medical condition rendered a fetus inviable.

The law signed by Kemp was blocked by a federal judge in October 2019 — before it went into effect — and ruled it violated the right to abortion established by Roe. v. Wade in 1973.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which cleared the way for Georgia’s law on abortion to go into effect.

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GEORGIA ABORTION LAW: A LOOK BACK AT WHAT HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION COMPANIES HAVE SAID ABOUT FILMING IN THE STATE

Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the “Heartbeat” abortion bill in 2019, though a Fulton County judge called the law unconstitutional. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

McBurney, in November 2022, ruled the law was “unequivocally unconstitutional” because it was enacted in 2019 when Roe v. Wade allowed abortions after six weeks.

But in October 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected the ruling in a 6-1 decision, saying McBurney was wrong.

“When the United States Supreme Court overrules its own precedent interpreting the United States Constitution, we are then obligated to apply the Court’s new interpretation of the Constitution’s meaning on matters of federal constitutional law,” Justice Verda Colvin wrote for the majority.

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McBurney’s ruling on Monday stated that the state, county, municipal and other local authorities are “enjoined” from seeking to enforce the six-week abortion law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Man accused in fatal Georgia shooting spree dies in jail, officials say

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Man accused in fatal Georgia shooting spree dies in jail, officials say


(WSAV) — The man accused of shooting and killing three people in Dekalb County April 13 was found dead in his jail cell, officials confirmed Monday night.

Olaolukitan Adon-Abel was found unresponsive in his jail cell at 6:48 p.m., a Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said. Life-saving measures were performed, according to officials.

He was pronounced dead at 7:17 p.m.

Adon-Abel was charged with malice murder, aggravated assault and firearms counts in connection to the shooting deaths of Prianna Weathers, Tony Mathews and Lauren Bullis.

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In 2025, Adon-Abel plead guilty in Chatham County Recorder’s Court to multiple misdemeanor counts of sexual battery for groping women in Chatham County under the name Adon Olaolukitan.

According to court documents, he was banned from Savannah for four years and ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation.

The official cause will be determined by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, and a standard internal review has been launched, according to officials.

At this time, the sheriff’s office said there are no indications of foul play. No additional details were released.

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2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report — Christen Miller, DT, Georgia

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2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report — Christen Miller, DT, Georgia


If you want proof that context matters in NFL Draft evaluation, look no further than Christen Miller’s career arc at Georgia. He arrived in Athens as a four-star recruit and spent his first two years buried behind first-round picks Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, and Jalen Carter — three players who all heard their names called on Day 1.

The defensive tackle assembly line at Georgia is nothing short of extraordinary, and Miller patiently waited his turn. By 2024, his turn had arrived, and what NFL scouts saw was a prototypically built interior defender who carries his 321-pound frame with impressive athleticism and natural leverage.

Miller’s greatest asset is his run defense. He is a solid anchor — quick to press his hands into blockers, disciplined about maintaining gap integrity, and stout enough to hold the point of attack against double teams that would cave lesser prospects — but he’s not dominant.

His lateral mobility is a genuine differentiator for a man his size; he can scrape down the line to close on outside runs or loop inside on stunts without losing his footing or pad level.

That combination of power and movement is why Georgia trusted him on the field for passing downs, and it’s why scouts project him as an immediate contributor against the run at the NFL level.

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The legitimate questions surrounding Miller center on his pass-rush production and his still-developing anticipation skills. Over his entire collegiate career, he accumulated only four sacks — never cracking two in a single season.

Still, Miller’s athleticism stands out immediately — he carries his size well and shows the lateral quickness you don’t always find at his frame. His hands have some pop, and he’s flashed the ability to jolt interior linemen off their spot. But he’s a prospect defined more by his floor than his ceiling.

Source: Mockdraftable

No single trait rises above average, which means his pass-rush production will hinge on technique and motor rather than any physical advantage. He also needs to improve as a finisher — getting close isn’t enough at the next level.

The traits for pass-rush development are present: he has good first-step quickness, flashes as a one-gap penetrator, and showed enough in stunt packages to keep offensive linemen honest. But he has yet to build a consistent, go-to counter move when his initial rush is neutralized. Against better competition, his reaction time to the snap can be late, and he can drift out of his gap assignment when he tries to freelance for a big play.

What Miller offers any franchise is a high floor with a realistic upside trajectory. He comes from one of college football’s most technically demanding defensive line programs, coached by coaches who regularly develop NFL talent.

He plays with a motor that never stops. He competed in SEC trenches for two-plus seasons and was named to the All-SEC First Team as a senior. The experience and winning culture he brings — two state championships in high school, a national championship at Georgia — will matter to coaches who value locker-room character.

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The ceiling here isn’t flashy, but it’s tangible: a reliable, two-down starting defensive tackle who keeps blocks clean and lets linebackers run free. In a league that increasingly prizes versatile, multi-technique interior linemen, Miller’s ability to play the nose or the B-gap makes him a schematic asset for even-front and two-gap systems. Don’t sleep on him because his sack totals are modest — evaluating him solely by that metric would miss the forest for the trees.

Miller’s fit in Green Bay is an interesting one. The Packers are switching to a 3-4 base defense under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, and they lack a proven run-stuffing nose tackle while being long overdue for a meaningful investment on the defensive interior — which is exactly the profile Miller fits.

The team brought him in for a pre-draft visit, signaling genuine interest, and his skill set maps cleanly onto what Green Bay needs. His calling card — an elite run defense grade that ranked second among all FBS defensive tackles — translates directly to what Gannon will ask of his interior linemen, and his versatility to play nose in an odd front or kick out to three-technique in sub packages only adds to the appeal.



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Democrats Are Ready to Reclaim Georgia. Is a Former Republican the Man for the Job?

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Democrats Are Ready to Reclaim Georgia. Is a Former Republican the Man for the Job?


NORCROSS, GEORGIA — Geoff Duncan, former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, won’t stop apologizing.

He’s sorry for supporting the state’s 2019 “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortion at around six weeks, after a fetal heartbeat is detected. He’s sorry for facilitating the passage of a “constitutional carry” bill in 2022, which allows most people to carry a concealed handgun with no license or background check. He’s also sorry for opposing Medicaid expansion, arguing at the time that it was not fiscally responsible.

“I’m sorry for those positions and any harm that they may have done,” Duncan told me.

Duncan first rose to prominence as one of the Republicans who resisted President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 win in Georgia. Duncan has been speaking out against what he calls Trump’s “toxic” and “dangerous” Republican Party since leaving office in 2023, and even endorsed Kamala Harris and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2024. After being excommunicated from the Georgia Republican Party in January 2025, Duncan switched parties in August. He is now running for governor as a Democrat in what will be one of the most closely watched races in the midterms.

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