Georgia's top court leaves six-week abortion ban in place

By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) - A Georgia law banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy can remain in effect, the state's highest court decided on Tuesday, ruling against a challenge by abortion providers in the state.

A judge in Atlanta had blocked the law last year, finding it was void because, at the time it was passed in 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision still guaranteed a right to abortion nationwide.

In its 6-1 opinion, the Georgia Supreme Court found that the law, known as the LIFE Act, can be enforced thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year overturning Roe.

The Georgia top court had previously allowed the law to take effect while it considered the case.

Justice Verda Colvin wrote for the majority on Tuesday that "the United States Constitution means today what it meant when the LIFE Act was enacted in 2019, even if the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution has changed."

The organizations challenging the case, including SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and Planned Parenthood, are also arguing that the LIFE Act violates a right to privacy under the state constitution. The state Supreme Court did not rule on that issue, which will now go back to the lower court judge.

"Today's devastating decision means that our people will continue to face the horrible reality that they are in today where Georgians are suffering because they cannot access abortion care," SisterSong Executive Director Monica Simpson said in a statement.

"We are pleased with the court's decision and will continue to defend the constitutionality of Georgia's LIFE Act," Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement.

The Georgia law prohibits abortion, with limited exceptions, after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks. The state is one of more than a dozen that have banned or severely restricted abortion since Roe was overturned.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)