Georgia’s Supreme Court has reinstated the state’s heartbeat law, a six-week limit on abortions in the state. The order was handed down six days after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that abortions should be legal until viability, or 22 weeks gestation, which was state law before the LIFE Act became law in 2019.

McBurney claimed the law violated Georgia’s constitution. He had ruled against the law once before, but the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 allowed it to take effect immediately.

The LIFE Act went back into effect the evening of Oct. 7. The law protects unborn children with detectable heartbeats from abortion—which is generally six weeks or earlier. It will remain in effect while appeals are made by various pro-abortion groups, including SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, which has challenged the law.

The office of Georgia’s governor—Republican Brian Kemp—released a statement praising the state Supreme Court’s decision. “Protecting the lives of the most vulnerable among us is one of our most sacred responsibilities, and Georgia will continue to be a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn.”

Georgia has been in the national spotlight recently after news broke that two women in the state lost their lives following complications stemming from the abortion pill. One woman, 22 weeks pregnant with twins, died while trying to induce a chemical abortion. The other became septic after taking abortion pills that she ordered online from a foreign country.

Clare Bartlett, who serves as executive director for the Georgia Life Alliance, pointed out that these tragic losses had nothing to do with the state’s law. “Medical protections had been removed by the Biden-Harris administration in their effort to proliferate abortion pill access,” Bartlett said.  

She also explained that the LIFE Act “is a careful balance of protecting the basic human rights of an unborn child while meeting society where it is culturally. The law protects the child once his or her heartbeat is detectable, which can be as early as four and a half weeks. … Under no circumstance under the law is treatment for a miscarriage, stillbirth, or ectopic pregnancy considered an abortion.”

The LIFE Act is one of the most robust pro-life laws in the country. The law gives women the legal right to seek child support from the baby’s biological father during pregnancy, and extends Georgia’s state income tax exemption for dependents to children in the womb.

Photo: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signs the LIFE Act into law in 2019. Tribune Content Agency LLC / Alamy Live News