Post-Roe State Abortion Ban Litigation
SisterSong v. State of Georgia (Georgia)
This case challenges Georgia’s H.B. 481, which bans abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy.
Georgia’s six-week abortion ban (H.B. 481) took effect in July 2022. The law was briefly struck down by the trial court in November 2022, but the Georgia Supreme Court allowed it to take effect again the following week.
In SisterSong v. State of Georgia, the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners filed a state constitutional challenge seeking to block H.B. 481 from taking effect. The lawsuit, filed on July 26, asserted that the six-week abortion ban violates the Georgia Constitution’s robust protection for the fundamental right to privacy, which is independent of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit also argued that H.B. 481 is unconstitutional because it clearly violated Roe v. Wade when enacted in 2019, making it void under Georgia judicial precedent, regardless of the subsequent change to federal law. Georgia’s constitution prohibits the legislature from passing laws that violate either the state or federal constitution.
The Center and its partners first challenged H.B. 481 in Sistersong v. Kemp (2019), shortly after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the ban into law. In 2020, a federal district court blocked the ban from taking effect. But after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the federal district court’s injunction, allowing the ban to take effect on July 20, 2022.
On August 15, the Superior Court of Fulton County refused to block H.B. 481, allowing the ban to remain in effect as litigation continues. On October 24, the Superior Court heard the trial challenging H.B. 481.
On November 15, Judge Robert McBurney of the Superior Court of Fulton County struck down the ban as void and without legal basis since it violated Roe v. Wade when it was enacted in 2019.
Judge McBurney further found that a subsequent change in federal constitutional law, which happened when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe, does not revive the ban. Instead, if the legislature wishes to ban abortion, it must pass a new law “in the sharp glare of public attention that will undoubtedly and properly attend such an important and consequential debate,” Judge McBurney wrote in his order.
Just a week later, on November 23, the Georgia Supreme Court granted an emergency stay of the injunction, allowing the ban to take effect once again while the state’s appeal continues.
Center Attorneys: Alice Wang and Cici Coquillette
Co-Counsel/Cooperating Attorneys: Caplan Cobb LLC, Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, ACLU of Georgia, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Plaintiffs: SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, Feminist Women’s Health Center, Planned Parenthood Southeast, Inc., Atlanta Comprehensive Wellness Clinic, Atlanta Women’s Medical Center, FemHealth USA d/b/a carafem, Summit Medical Associates, P.C., Carrie Cwiak, M.D., M.P.H., Lisa Haddad, M.D., M.S., M.P.H., Eva Lathrop, M.D., M.P.H., and Medical Students for Choice
Timeline:
| July 20, 2022 | After the U.S. Supreme Court takes away the right to abortion, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals lifts the federal district court’s injunction against H.B. 481, Georgia’s six-week abortion ban. The ban goes into effect for the first time since it was passed in 2019. |
| July 26, 2022 | The Center and its partners file a new lawsuit (SisterSong v. GA) in the Superior Court of Fulton County, which argues that H.B. 481 violates the Georgia Constitution. |
| August 15, 2022 | The Superior Court of Fulton County refuses to preliminarily block H.B. 481, allowing the ban to remain in effect as litigation continues. |
| October 24, 2022 | The trial challenging H.B. 481 takes place at the Superior Court of Fulton County. |
| November 15, 2022 | Judge Robert McBurney of the Superior Court of Fulton County strikes down H.B. 481 as void and without legal basis, since it violated Roe v. Wade when it was enacted in 2019. |
| November 23, 2022 | Georgia Supreme Court grants emergency stay of the Superior Court injunction, allowing the ban to take effect once again while the state’s appeal continues. |
Legal documents:
- Complaint in SisterSong v. State of Georgia, 7.26.22
- State’s Response in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Temporary Restraining Order/Preliminary Injunction Motion, 8.4.22
- Plaintiffs’ Reply in Support of Temporary Restraining Order/Preliminary Injunction Motion, 8.8.22
- Order Dismissing Plaintiffs’ Preliminary Injunction Motion, 8.15.22
- Order on Motion for Partial Judgment to Dismiss, 11.15.22
- Georgia Supreme Court Stay Order, 11.23.22
