Georgia Supreme Court Upholds State’s ‘Heartbeat’ Law For Second Time, but That’s Not the End

A fight over Georgia’s pro-life law that protects babies from abortion when a detectable heartbeat is heard is heading back to a lower court again after the state’s Supreme Court ruled in its favor for the second time.

As CBN News reported, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the pro-life protections in October after a Fulton County Superior Court Judge ruled that the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, signed by Governor Brian Kemp, unconstitutionally prohibited abortions.

In the latest development, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled 6-1 to uphold the law for the second time.

Georgia’s High Court vacated the lower judge’s second attempt to render the six-week abortion ban unconstitutional and ordered that the judge reassess whether the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and other abortion rights groups who brought the case in court have the standing to do so in the first place, Liberty Counsel, a non-profit legal group, reports.

The Georgia Supreme Court told Judge Robert McBurney to reassess their standing based on a ruling in the Wasserman v. Franklin County case, which eliminated third-party standing in Georgia courts.

The high court pointed out that “a plaintiff may not maintain an action in Georgia courts by asserting only the rights of a third party and meeting the elements of the federal test.”

Now, under this new legal framework, McBurney could dismiss the case.

If he continues to side with the pro-abortion plaintiffs, then it could end up back at the state’s supreme court for a third time.

“Georgia’s ‘heartbeat law’ protects the most vulnerable and there is nothing unconstitutional about that,” said Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. “There is no right to cruelly kill defenseless children in the womb.”

Liberty Counsel had filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the Frederick Douglass Foundation and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. The groups serve members of the African American and Hispanic communities in Georgia and across the United States.

The legal group noted that abortions disproportionately affect minorities under the guise of the modern “reproductive justice” and “family planning” movements.

According to a Pew Research Center study42% of African American women have abortions while 22% of Hispanic women have abortions.

Liberty Counsel concluded, “The LIFE Act directly addresses these harms by affirming the equal dignity and value of all human life, rejecting the eugenic ideology embedded in abortion advocacy, and protecting vulnerable populations from targeted eradication. Upholding this law is consistent with Georgia’s constitutional tradition and furthers its compelling interest in safeguarding the rights and lives of its most defenseless citizens—the unborn.”

At least three other states have six-week “heartbeat” laws, including Florida, Iowa, and South Carolina, which all have been upheld by their respective state supreme court.

As CBN News reported, new data released from the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration shows that more than 23,000 babies have been born who would have otherwise been aborted, since the state’s “heartbeat law” went into effect.

In Iowa, abortions dropped by 35% once the state’s heartbeat law took effect.

The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion policy group, estimated that during the six months before the law’s enactment there was an average of about 400 clinician-provided abortions in Iowa per month.

That number dropped to an estimated 260 such abortions in the first full month the law went into effect.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments earlier this month in a case against the state’s heartbeat bill, for the third time.

In its third legal challenge, Planned Parenthood is arguing that science does not support the claim that a heartbeat can be heard at six weeks of gestation. The abortion giant is pushing to have the abortion limit set at nine weeks of pregnancy.

Attorneys representing the group say a heartbeat is not audible, but as CBN News reported the organization has straddled the fence when it comes to the reality of fetal heartbeats.

Planned Parenthood had previously admitted to the existence of a “beating heart” in the earliest stages of development. But it recently deleted that reference from its website.

Its archived statement had acknowledged that at weeks 5-6 of pregnancy, “A very basic beating heart and circulatory system develop.”

But now, the abortion group is sticking with the claim that fetal heartbeats aren’t real, arguing instead on its website that it just “sounds like a heartbeat.”

“It sounds like a heartbeat on an ultrasound, but it’s not a fully-formed heart,” Planned Parenthood now contends.

South Carolinians aren’t buying it.

In response to the latest lawsuit, GOP lawmakers have signed a letter reaffirming their commitment to oppose Planned Parenthood.

“South Carolina proudly upholds the sanctity of life and the rights of the unborn and their mothers. Our stance is clearly written in our Partyʼs Platform: we believe the right to life is the first inalienable right, without which there can be no other rights,” reads the letter.

“The people of South Carolina have consistently voiced their support for these principles, electing representatives at both the state and federal levels who reflect their values. However, the politically driven abortion industry refuses to acknowledge the will of the people,” it continues.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Alan Wilson also reiterated his position after oral arguments were made in court saying he will always “fight to uphold the sanctity of life.”

“This is the third time my office has gone to the state Supreme Court to fight to uphold our state’s Fetal Heartbeat Act,” he said. “The legislature’s intent was clear—to protect life once a heartbeat is detected. We thank the justices for their attention and thoughtful questions and look forward to their ruling. I will always fight to uphold the sanctity of life.”

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