Two near-total abortion bans have been overturned by judges in Georgia and North Dakota.
Since the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling revoked a so-called Constitutional “right” to abortion, individual states have implemented their own legislation regarding the unborn.
The historic decision also allowed for some laws to be enacted that were previously blocked due to the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. Georgia’s pre-Dobbs ban was struck down for the second time this week while North Dakota’s strict prohibitions were also overturned.
“Activist judges are how we ended up with an invented right to abortion in the first place,” Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey told Pregnancy Help News in a statement. “It is sad to see judges still protect abortion over the will of the people of the state through their elected officials. These are more examples of abortion distortion that affects major pillars of our society, like the judicial system.”
Heartbeat International is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally.
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Judge rules North Dakota law unconstitutional
On September 12, District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled that North Dakota’s near-total abortion ban violates the state’s constitution. The decision came amid the state’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed in 2022, challenging the ban that was allowed to be enacted after the Dobbs decision.
According to Romanick, expectant mothers in the Peace Garden State “have a fundamental right to choose abortion before viability” which is protected by the state’s constitution. He continued in his opinion that the ban “infringes” upon that so-called “right to procreative autonomy.” The judge added that the law is “not narrowly tailored” to adequately “promote women’s health” or “protect unborn human life.”
North Dakota’s heartbeat law was signed by Republican Gov. Doug Burgum in April 2023. It effectively banned abortion throughout pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest or medical emergencies up to six weeks’ gestation. At the time, the governor said that the legislation showed the state’s identity “as a pro-life state.”
Even though abortion is now legal in North Dakota, the state’s only abortion center relocated across the border to Minnesota after Roe v. Wade was overturned, leaving no abortion facilities currently operating in the state.
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Georgia’s heartbeat law overturned by state judge
More recently, on September 30, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney struck down Georgia’s six-week abortion ban. This law prohibited killing the unborn once a heartbeat was detected, typically about halfway through the first trimester. It went into effect in 2022, following Roe’s reversal and several years after it was signed.
McBurney wrote in his decision that the law is in violation of the state’s constitution since “liberty in Georgia” that document is encompassed in the what he described as 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.”
The overturning of the heartbeat bill reinstates legal abortion through a minimum of 20 weeks’ gestation. Previously, another court revoked McBurney’s first decision to upend the law. This could lead to the September 30 ruling being paused pending appeals.
On October 1, National Right to Life noted in a press release that Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, said that the decision represents the second time that “the will of Georgians and their representatives have been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge.” He added that ensuring protection for the unborn is “one of our most sacred responsibilities” and promised that the state would “continue” to “fight for the lives of the unborn.”
A representative for Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr also said that the state “believe[s] Georgia’s LIFE Act is fully constitutional,” adding that his office will “immediately appeal the lower court’s decision.”
The legislation was originally signed by Kemp in May 2019 and banned abortion once a heartbeat was detected. This bill also included exceptions for rape, incest and in circumstances deemed necessary to save the mother’s life.
The overturning of Georgia’s heartbeat law comes amid growing debate about abortion in the Peach State, as pro-life efforts are underway to correct misinformation circulating about the tragic deaths of two mothers who suffered fatal reactions to the abortion pill.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
