georgia

The state Supreme Court has overruled the judge before on abortion. But as long as abortion after the six-week mark is allowed, it could ease access for women in Georgia, Florida and other Southern states.

The county judge wrote that his ruling means the law in the state returns to what it was before the law took effect in 2022, allowing abortions through at least 20 weeks of pregnancy. The state plans to appeal.

“Certificate of need” laws, largely supported by the hospital industry, limit health facility construction in 35 states and Washington, D.C. Georgia lawmakers decided its law was complicating the reviving of two hospitals critical to their communities.

Dr. Nisha Verma says in the nearly two years since Georgia's six-week abortion ban went into effect, she's seen patients suffer and some colleagues leave the state. She fears the same thing will happen in Florida.

While many Republican state lawmakers remain firmly against Medicaid expansion, some key leaders in holdout states are showing a willingness to reconsider.

The Georgia Board of Pharmacy began accepting applications to dispense the products in October. However, the DEA has reportedly warned pharmacies that dispensing medical marijuana violates federal law.

The justices rejected a lower court ruling that the state's restrictive abortion law was invalid because it was enacted in 2019, when a woman’s right to later abortions was still law under Roe v. Wade.

The Georgia Department of Community Health has projected up to 100,000 people could benefit, but the nation’s only Medicaid program that makes recipients meet a work requirement is off to a slow start.

It will likely take a few weeks before medical marijuana is available in pharmacies. After they submit applications, inspections will be required before approval is granted.

Georgia had asked the judge to vacate a preliminary injunction because a panel with the 11th Circuit of Appeals allowed enforcement of a similar Alabama law. Florida has also appealed to the 11th Circuit to overturn two rulings on gender-affirming care.