Georgia asks judge not to block abortion law

Associated Press

ATLANTA

Georgia has asked a federal judge not to block the state’s restrictive abortion law from taking effect and to dismiss a challenge to the constitutionality of the measure.

The law bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women realize they’re expecting. It allows for only limited exceptions.

The ban is “constitutional and justified,” lawyers for the state argued in court filings filed Monday. The law “advances Georgia’s unique and substantial constitutional interest in protecting unborn human lives, in addition to its interests in protecting maternal health, encouraging childbirth, and safeguarding the integrity of the medical profession,” they said.

The law, which was signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in May, is set to become enforceable Jan. 1.

Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a federal lawsuit in June on behalf of Georgia abortion providers and an advocacy group, saying women have the constitutional right to be free to make their own health care and family planning decisions without interference from politicians. In July, they asked the judge to stop it from taking effect while the case plays out.

In response, the state lawyers said they “deny all allegations in the complaint that killing a living unborn child constitutes ‘medical care’ or health care.’”

The Georgia legislation makes exceptions in the case of rape and incest, if the woman files a police report first. It also allows for abortions when the life of the woman is at risk or when a fetus is determined not to be viable because of a serious medical condition.