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Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney has been handling a case filed in Georgia by several activist groups, including the Reproductive Justice Collective, Sistersong Women of Color, and others, that sought to overturn the restrictive ban that was adopted in 2019 and that took effect after the Dobbs decision. Yesterday, McBurney issued his ruling, finding that... the plaintiffs are absolutely right.
The ruling is pretty thorough, but McBurney's central finding is that the abortion ban violates women's right to privacy, which is enshrined in the state constitution. He notes that if the state could demonstrate a compelling interest in setting aside women's privacy, then the law might be valid, but concluded that the state did not do so. He also made a point of noting the discriminatory nature of the law:
It is generally men who promote and defend laws like the LIFE Act, the effect of which is to require only women—and, given the socio-economic and demographic evidence presented at trial, primarily poor women, which means in Georgia primarily black and brown women—to engage in compulsory labor, i.e., the carrying of a pregnancy to term at the government's behest
That part could well have been written by Planned Parenthood. In case you are wondering, however, McBurney is no wild-eyed liberal. He was appointed to the bench by a Republican (then-governor Nathan Deal).
With the ruling, abortions will be available up to the point of fetal viability (approx. 20 weeks). Georgia will join Virginia as the two Southern states that have relatively permissive abortion laws. So, there is sure to be an influx of women from other states (Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, etc.) seeking abortion care.
The state will undoubtedly appeal the decision; what will be interesting to see is how quickly they do so. If state AG Christopher Carr files right now, that kinda puts abortion on the ballot in November, and could drive up turnout among Democrats. Depending on how concerned he is about the prospects of Republicans up and down the ballot, Carr might hold off until, say, November 6. (Z)