Georgia heartbeat law: Georgia supreme court expected to hand down ruling Tuesday

ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court is expected to hand down its ruling determining if Georgia’s controversial abortion law will stand on Tuesday. Justices heard arguments back in March on the so-called fetal heartbeat law.

Georgia has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. It bans terminating a pregnancy once a doctor can detect cardiac activity, which is generally around six weeks.

The lawsuit was filed shortly after the Heartbeat Law went into effect. The initial lawsuit was filed in the Fulton County court, but made its way up to the Georgia Supreme Court.

The Heartbeat Law was originally by lawmakers and signed by Governor Brian Kemp in 2019, but did not go into effect right away because of lawsuits challenging its validity. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade this summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit allowed the ban to go into effect.  

The suit also argues the heartbeat abortion ban violates Georgia’s constitution because it contains strong privacy protections.

If the state’s highest court rules in favor of the state, then the law will stand as is with abortions legal for about the first six weeks. If the court justices side with the petitioners, women will be able to obtain abortions again until around 20-weeks.