Both sides promised a fight to the finish after a federal judge temporarily blocked Georgia’s law against abortion—with the envisioned finish line at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Of course, it was Supreme Court precedent that guided Judge Steve Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to issue a preliminary injunction against House Bill 481. The bill outlaws abortion upon detection of an embryonic pulse. The statute says it could apply as early as six weeks into pregnancy and is effective Jan. 1, 2020.