ATLANTA — A law firm representing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is asking for the fight over Georgia's "heartbeat law" to return to lower courts. The move came Friday as the deadline approached for attorneys to file their arguments on what should happen next with the law.
Also, late Friday night, the ACLU submitted its arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta, on behalf of abortion rights groups that are trying to stop Georgia’s “heartbeat” abortion law from taking effect. It's possible the court could rule as soon as next week. It's also possible the court may decline to rule, and send the case back to the lower court for another look.
Back in June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Mississippi abortion law, known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights.
The 11th Circuit gave lawyers 21 days to file their arguments on how the ruling on Roe impacts the Georgia law.
The Georgia law, which generally bans abortions at about six weeks upon the detection of a "fetal heartbeat," had previously been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court citing the now-overturned Roe precedent. That ruling has kept the Georgia law on pause even in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe. After news broke that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr wrote to the 11th Circuit that it can no longer keep the Georgia law from taking effect.
Now, Willis is asking for this to be "returned to the lower court to allow the parties the opportunity to address the merits of the claims in a post-Dobbs context."
Meanwhile, a new letter brief from Carr's counsel on Friday claims that the Dobbs ruling made it clear that "there is no federal constitutional right to an abortion."
"In the wake of Dobbs, this Court should reverse the district court’s judgment, vacate the permanent injunction, and direct the district court to enter judgment for Defendant-Appellants," the court filing said.
News happens fast. Download our 11Alive News app for all the latest breaking updates, and sign up for our Speed Feed newsletter to get a rundown of the latest headlines across north Georgia.