ATLANTA — Attorneys are set to file their arguments Friday on what should happen to Georgia's six-week "fetal heartbeat" abortion law in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
After the Supreme Court's decision overturning the landmark abortion rights ruling, the 11th Circuit gave lawyers 21 days to file their arguments on how the decision on Roe impacts the Georgia law. That deadline comes up Friday.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta first heard arguments on the law last September. At that time, the court put the case on hold to see what the Supreme Court did with Roe.
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.
After reviewing the arguments, the 11th Circuit could decide a number of things - it could rule that under the new Supreme Court precedent, the Georgia law must take effect.
Experts have noted the appeals court could also find other grounds for invalidating the law. The 11th Circuit may accept arguments, for example, that the law is too vague in how it defines fetal personhood or that its exceptions - such as for rape or incest, but only if a woman has filed a police reports and only if they've done so before the pregnancy has reached 20 weeks - do not meet rational expectation burdens.
In that case, Georgia could then appeal back up to the Supreme Court.
Conversely, the 11th Circuit could effectively punt the case and send it back to the lower federal court to reconsider its original ruling.
Aside from the current heartbeat law, Gov. Brian Kemp also has the power to hold a special session of the Georgia General Assembly to enact an even stricter abortion law.
The governor could also decline to call a special session, leaving the matter to the next legislative session next year. 11Alive previously reached out to Kemp's office to see if he will call a special session, but they have not returned a request for comment.