A Fulton County Superior Court judge has struck down Georgia’s controversial six-week abortion ban, known as the LIFE Act.  The decision, handed down by Judge Robert McBurney, restores the legal right to abortion in the state for up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, significantly expanding access for women across Georgia. Judge McBurney, in his ruling, highlighted the fundamental right to personal liberty and bodily autonomy stating: “Our higher courts’ interpretations of ‘liberty’ demonstrate that liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights 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,” McBurney said.  “[The law’s] extreme narrowing of the window of time within which women have the legal ability to end a pregnancy from roughly twenty weeks (i.e., viability) down to a mere six weeks, a point at which many — if not most — women are completely unaware or at best unsure if they are pregnant,” Judge McBurney continued. The LIFE Act, which had been signed into law by Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp in 2019, had been in effect since July 2022, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.  The law was immediately challenged by the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, who, along with other plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit against the legislation. McBurney initially ruled the law unconstitutional, but his decision was overruled by the state Supreme Court. However, when the case returned to his courtroom, he reaffirmed his stance, striking down the ban once again. In a written statement, McBurney likened the situation to the dystopian world of The Handmaid’s Tale saying: “For these women, the liberty of privacy means that they alone should choose whether they serve as human incubators for the five months leading up to viability. It is not for a legislator, a judge, or a Commander from The Handmaid’s Tale to tell these women what to do with their bodies during this period when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb any more so than society could — or should — force them to serve as a human tissue bank or to give up a kidney for the benefit of another.”  “That power is not, however, unlimited. When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then — and only then — may society intervene,” McBurney said.  The decision was met with a mix of relief and continued grief by the plaintiffs. Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong stated: “We are encouraged that a Georgia court has ruled for bodily autonomy. At the same time, we can’t forget that every day the ban has been in place has been a day too long—and we have felt the dire consequences with the devastating and preventable deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller.” Governor Kemp’s office, however, strongly condemned the ruling. Garrison Douglas, Kemp’s spokesperson, said, “Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge. Georgia will continue to be a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn.”  Attorney General Christopher Carr’s office echoed this sentiment. “We believe Georgia’s LIFE Act is fully constitutional, and we will immediately appeal the lower court’s decision,” a spokesperson for Carr said. The post Judge Strikes Down Georgia’s Abortion Ban, Temporarily Expanding Across The State appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.