WASHINGTON—Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Monday issued a decision declaring Georgia’s 2019 Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act or LIFE Act unconstitutional. The bill protects babies whose hearts have begun to beat

McBurney’s decision comes after a 2023 Georgia Supreme Court decision that allowed Georgia’s heartbeat law to stand.

“In an act that defies reason, this activist judge has decided to ignore the 2023 decision of the Georgia Supreme Court that declared the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act constitutional,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life:

“This judge has chosen to make rulings based on his own beliefs rather than the law and higher court judgments.”

In 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court determined that the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs was controlling and that Georgia’s LIFE Act was constitutional.