No one expects a judge’s rollback of Georgia’s abortion ban to be the last word

SAVANNAH, Ga. — When a Georgia judge overturned the state’s abortion ban this week, abortion rights advocates praised the ruling and opponents denounced it — all knowing the state’s top court could put it on hold in coming days or weeks.

Any changes to abortion policy in Southern states could have an impact that resonates beyond their borders. Most states in the region have bans in place, forcing women who are seeking abortion procedures to travel to obtain them.

So as long as the ban is lifted, it could change abortion-related travel patterns. And the ruling puts another spotlight on a contested state in this year’s presidential election, in which Democrats have sought to make abortion a major issue.

Here’s a look at where things stand.

Georgia’s abortion law violates women’s rights to liberty and privacy guaranteed by the state constitution, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Monday.

Since 2022, the law effectively prohibited abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy, which is before women often know they’re pregnant. That’s the point when cardiac activity in an embryo’s cells can be detected by ultrasound. The law banned abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” was present — with some exceptions.

McBurney ruled that the law infringed on the liberty “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.” He also wrote that Georgia gives women a constitutional right to privacy that includes making personal health decisions.

The judge wrote that his ruling reverts Georgia’s abortion law to its prior status, which allowed abortions until viability, which is generally considered to be about 22 to 24 weeks’ gestational age.

It was the judge’s second ruling striking down the same law. In 2022, McBurney declared the law invalid because it was enacted by state lawmakers in 2019, when Roe v. Wade still protected abortion rights nationally.

The Georgia Supreme Court overturned that earlier ruling and sent the case back to McBurney to consider the merits of other legal arguments raised by abortion providers challenging the law. That paved the way for the Monday ruling.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, blasted the ruling, saying: “Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge.”

Republican state Attorney General Chris Carr planned an immediate appeal to the state…