Resource: SisterSong v. Kemp

This lawsuit challenges Georgia’s 2019 effort to ban abortion, which was set to take effect on January 1, 2020. House Bill 481 would ban abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many people even know they are pregnant. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the complaint in federal district court on June 28, 2019 and, on October 1, the district court granted the request for a preliminary injunction, blocking the law before it could take effect while the litigation proceeds. Following discovery and oral argument, on July 13, 2020, the district court granted a permanent injunction and struck down the law. The State filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and oral argument took place September 24, 2021. On September 27, the appellate court stayed the case pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Center’s challenge to Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. On July 20, the 11th Circuit issued a ruling allowing the law to take immediate effect.