(ATLANTA, Ga.) — The Lewis R. Slaton Courthouse in Downtown Atlanta is the scene of one of the nation’s most recent challenges to more restrictive abortion laws being implemented across the country, following the June overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney will begin deliberations on whether or not to strike down Georgia’s controversial 6-week abortion ban, often called a “heartbeat bill.”

Judge McBurney held two days’ worth of hearings starting Monday, including testimony from Dr. Martina Badell, OB-GYN and specialist in maternal and fetal health at Emory University’s School of Medicine.

“In some situations now, we may counsel and say, ‘That is the standard of care and you should have this option, but I’m sorry, it’s not clear we can provide that for you here in Georgia,’” she said on Tuesday.

Badell is a witness for the plaintiffs, who seek to invalidate the law banning abortions as early as six weeks after conception. The law provides exceptions to prevent the mother’s death or “the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” That exception, however, leaves doctors uneasy and wary about providing what could be life-saving care, for fear of being charged with accessory to murder.

Badell also said that obstetricians have always faced a heightened risk of being second-guessed, as indicated by a disproportionately large number of malpractice suits filed each year.

Farr Curlin, physician and co-director of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke University, testified on behalf of the state. Speaking in support of the law, he said that a heartbeat is an indicator that an animal is alive.

Judge McBurney said that he will wait until after the midterm elections, under a month away, to make his final ruling on the case.

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