Court ruling against Georgia's anti-abortion law roils election year

A federal judge’s decision to throw out Georgia’s controversial anti-abortion law has set the stage for an appeal and reignited the fiery debate over women’s reproductive rights in an election year.

U.S. Judge Steve C. Jones of the Georgia Northern District Court issued his opinion Monday rejecting the law as unconstitutional and prohibiting state officials from enforcing it. The so-called “heartbeat” bill would have banned most abortions after six weeks, which is before many women know they are pregnant.

“As this ban directly conflicts with binding Supreme Court precedent … and thereby infringes upon a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion prior to viability, the Court is left with no other choice but to declare it unconstitutional,” Jones wrote in a 67-page opinion.

Jones struck down the entire law, including a proposed tax break for expecting parents and a requirement for the father to pay child support for medical and pregnancy-related expenses.

Read more: https://georgiarecorder.com/2020/07/13/court-ruling-against-georgias-anti-abortion-law-roils-election-year/