The scope and existence of limitations on abortion remains a pressing question in states across the country in the post-Roe landscape, and one southern jurisdiction's stringent restrictions were just rejected by a judge, much to the disappointment of pro-life activists there.
As Breitbart reports, Judge Robert McBurney of Fulton County (Georgia) Superior Court blocked enforcement of the state's Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act late last month, dealing a victory to pro-abortion forces who also hope the issue will play an outsized role in November's presidential election and beyond.
McBurney's decision signals the death knell for Georgia's so-called “heartbeat law,” which prohibited abortions after six weeks' gestation unless certain, specified exceptions applied.
The judge determined, as Fox News noted, that the issue of abortion in the Peach State would be subject to regulation under the terms that prevailed prior to the enactment of the statute at issue, meaning that abortion was permissible up until 22 weeks gestation.
In the order announcing his decision, McBurney declared, “The authors of our Constitutions, state and federal, entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning.”
He went on, “A review of our higher courts' interpretations of 'liberty' demonstrates that liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.”
McBurney did, however, acknowledge that the power as articulated is not without limits, noting that “When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then – and only then – may society intervene.”
The LIFE Act came into existence when Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law back in 2019, but did not take effect until 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the precedent of Roe v. Wade.
Though critics complained that the six-week abortion ban would require women to have the procedure before many even realize they are pregnant, the statute did include exceptions for cases of incest, rape, and when the life of the mother is deemed to be in danger.
Notably, McBurney halted enforcement law once before, back in 2022, prompting the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his decision and allow it to be implemented until the case was heard on its merits, a process which has now been completed.
In the wake of McBurney's ruling, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr filed an appeal to the state's high court, declaring that a reversal of the judge's “barely veiled judicial policymaking” was likely.
The state's appeal asserted that the “superior court's new order is just as erroneous as its first” and that it was filled with “political arguments, irrelevant (and erroneous) legal tangents, and ad hominem attacks” without ever isolating “a genuine constitutional flaw” in the legislation.
With abortion once again playing a significant role in the current presidential election cycle, some believe that McBurney's decision on the LIFE Act at this particular juncture amounts to undue interference.
Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council made this very claim, saying, “With his October Surprise, it looks like McBurney is attempting to curry favor with Kamala Harris to get appointed to a lifetime federal judgeship if Harris wins the presidency,” offering a seemingly cynical -- yet potentially quite accurate -- take on the current state of play.
