ATLANTA — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Georgia’s restrictive abortion law should be allowed to take effect, an outcome that’s been expected since the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion for nearly 50 years.
The panel of appeals judges sent the case back to a federal district court judge and instructed him to reverse his 2020 ruling and allow the law to take effect, which could take place within days or weeks.
That means most abortions soon will no longer be allowed once a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, typically around six weeks of pregnancy and before many know they are pregnant.
