Judge rules state’s ban on terminations once ‘detectable human heartbeat’ present violated US constitution at time it was enacted
A judge overturned Georgia’s ban on abortion starting around six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling on Tuesday that it violated the US constitution and US supreme court precedent when it was enacted.
The ruling by Judge Robert McBurney of Fulton county superior court applies statewide. The ban had been in effect since July.
It prohibited most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” is present. Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. That means most abortions in Georgia were in effect banned at a point before many women knew they were pregnant.
McBurney’s ruling came in a lawsuit that sought to strike down the ban on multiple grounds, including that it violates the Georgia constitution’s right to privacy and liberty by forcing pregnancy and childbirth on women in the state. The lawsuit filed by doctors and advocacy groups in July also argued that Georgia’s abortion ban was invalid because it violated the US constitution and US supreme court precedent when it was enacted.
McBurney agreed with that argument in his decision.