Georgia abortion ban temporarily reinstated while state supreme court considers case

The Georgia Supreme Court has temporarily reinstated a 6-week abortion ban across the state effective one week after a state court overturned the law, declaring it unconstitutional in a 26-page opinion that compared the state’s abortion ban to the Handmaid’s Tale. The 2019 ban, known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, will be reinstated at 5 p.m. on Oct. 7, meaning abortion will once again be inaccessible for the vast majority of Georgia residents until the state supreme court issues a decision. 

More: Judge rules Georgia’s six week abortion ban unconstitutional

When the six-week abortion ban was overturned on Sept. 30, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr immediately appealed the ruling, and filed an emergency motion requesting that the state supreme court reinstate the LIFE Act while the justices considered the case. The court’s ruling today granted that injunction, temporarily preventing the lower court’s ruling from taking effect.  

The renewed battle over Georgia’s abortion law is the latest development in a yearslong court case that was filed shortly after the law took effect in 2022. It comes a few weeks after reporting from ProPublica found that the law forced healthcare providers to delay medical care to pregnant patients, and linked the deaths of at least two women — Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller — to the ban. The story drew national attention, with Vice President Kamala Harris visiting Atlanta to promote reproductive rights across the state. 

More: Kamala Harris addresses abortion bans, reproductive rights at Atlanta rally

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, the organization that originally filed the lawsuit challenging Georgia’s abortion ban, condemned the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in a statement released Monday. 

“Today, the Georgia Supreme Court sided with anti-abortion extremists,” Monica Simpson, the executive director of SisterSong said. “Every minute this harmful six-week abortion ban is in place, Georgians suffer. Denying our community members the lifesaving care they deserve jeopardizes their lives, safety, and health—all for the sake of power and control over our bodies.” 

She also highlighted the deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, who were both women of color in a state where Black women are more than three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. 

“The right to bodily autonomy transcends partisanship; it’s a human right that every Georgian deserves,” Simpson added. “We still believe in a Georgia where we all have the right to decide whether or not to have children and raise those children in safe, sustainable communities.” 

Feminist Women’s Health Center, an Atlanta-based abortion provider that quickly resumed abortion care during the week that the ban was lifted, also condemned the ruling. 

“Once again, we are being forced to turn away those in need of abortion care beyond six weeks of pregnancy and deny them care that we are fully capable of providing to change their lives,” 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. The state of Georgia has chosen to subject our community to those devastating harms once again, even in light of the deadly consequences we have already witnessed.” 

The Georgia attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment. 

Read the Georgia Supreme Court’s order below:

Maya Homan is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY who focuses on Georgia politics. She is @MayaHoman on X, formerly Twitter.