In 2019, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed into law one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. But the measure was never enforced. This could change soon.
A federal judge last summer ruled the law unconstitutional for violating a woman’s right to an abortion. The state appealed, but the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit delayed a decision pending a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization of Mississippi.
After the Supreme Court ruled Friday to use the Mississippi case to resolve the Roe v. Wade’s abortion protections, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr quickly asked the federal appeals court to allow the Georgia law to go into effect.
“I believe in the dignity, worth and worth of every human being, both born and unborn,” Mr Carr said in a written statement. “The US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs is constitutionally correct and rightly returns the abortion issue to states and the people – where it belongs.”
The Court of Appeal is expected to rule on the matter in the coming days. In the meantime, it has already become the stuff of Georgia’s closely watched gubernatorial campaign.
“We are confident that Georgia’s LIFE Act will be fully implemented soon,” Mr. Kemp, a Republican, wrote on Twitter. His Democratic rival Stacey Abrams said on CNN she expects the abortion ban to go into effect soon — and that if elected, she would work to reverse it.
