A judge in Georgia’s Fulton County overturned the state’s “heartbeat’ abortion ban. The ban made it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after the six week mark or around the time a heartbeat can be detected.
Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., signed the state law in 2019. However, it didn’t take effect until July 2022 after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
The new ruling makes it so abortion can be performed again in Georgia up until about 22 weeks of pregnancy, which is the point of viability.
The six-week “heartbeat” bill has seen multiple legal challenges since it first passed. In 2020, it was deemed unconstitutional. But, in 2022 the state Supreme Court allowed Georgia to enforce the act.
The ban had people traveling to states where abortions could be obtained legally.
