Georgia asks court to immediately reinstate abortion ban

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Tuesday that the state’s abortion ban was invalid because when it was signed into law in 2019, U.S. Supreme Court precedent under Roe. v. Wade and another ruling allowed abortion well past six weeks. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

Georgia officials asked a court on Friday to immediately block a judge’s ruling striking down the state’s abortion ban. The ruling allowed the procedure to again be performed beyond about six weeks of pregnancy.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney’s decision earlier this week was “remarkable” and relied on a “wholly unsupported theory that has no basis in law, precedent, or common sense,” the state attorney general’s office said in court documents filed with the Georgia Supreme Court.

It asked the high court for an order immediately putting McBurney’s decision on hold while the justices take more time to consider an appeal. Such an order would restore the state’s ban on abortion, which started roughly six weeks into pregnancy.