The decision, made on Monday, overturns a previous ruling by a lower court that had allowed abortions to resume. Justice John J. Ellington dissented in part, expressing concerns about reinstating the ban prior to the state's appeal being heard. He emphasized, “The State should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution."

Last month, Judge Robert McBurney of the Fulton County Superior Court ruled the ban unconstitutional, citing the Georgia state constitution’s guarantee of the right to "liberty," which he interpreted to include a woman’s right to control her own body. Just two days after this decision, the state filed an appeal.

The controversial ban, signed into law in 2019 by Governor Brian Kemp, prohibits abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detectable, generally around six weeks' gestation—a time before many women realize they are pregnant. It also redefines the term “person” to include embryos or fetuses at any stage of development. Exceptions to the ban exist for cases of rape or incest reported to law enforcement, and for pregnancies where the fetus has defects making survival unlikely or if the patient's life is in danger, up until 20 weeks.

The initial enforcement of the ban was blocked until it was reinstated following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule Roe v. Wade in 2022. Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project and litigator on the case, stated, “Seeing state politicians show such little empathy or respect for Georgians' health and lives only doubles our resolve to keep fighting until every person has the freedom to make personal medical decisions during pregnancy and the power to chart the course of their own lives."

The battle over abortion rights continues in Georgia as the state awaits further legal proceedings to determine the final status of the restrictive law.