Supreme Court Rules To Allow Emergency Abortions In Idaho

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of allowing emergency abortions in Idaho when a pregnant patient's health is critically endangered, according to an opinion confirmed after it was briefly displayed on the court's website on Wednesday.

The draft opinion indicates the court's belief that it prematurely intervened in the case involving Idaho's stringent abortion restrictions. The ruling was confirmed Thursday after its inadvertent posting a day earlier.

The 6-3 decision reinstated a lower court's ruling which allows hospitals to perform emergency abortions to safeguard the health of pregnant patients. However, this outcome leaves unresolved significant issues central to the case.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in a concurrence, said while the decision allows for temporary measures, it does not offer a comprehensive resolution. "Today's decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay," she wrote.

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the decision.

The court confirmed that a document was inadvertently posted online, and the official opinion in the Idaho case would be released "in due course," according to court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe.

As the official decision has not been released, the draft indicates that the case will proceed at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court and could potentially return to the Supreme Court.

A recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that approximately 70% of U.S. adults support access to abortions in cases of miscarriage or pregnancy-related emergencies.

The potential ruling would overturn the Supreme Court's earlier decision allowing Idaho's abortion ban to take effect temporarily, even in emergencies.

Idaho doctors have reported several instances where women needed medical airlifts to other states due to the ban.

Xavier Becerra, the nation's top health official, met with Idaho doctors and patients to discuss the state's strict abortion laws in Boise on Wednesday.

The legal battle began when the Biden administration sued Idaho, arguing that the state's abortion ban conflicted with federal healthcare laws mandating that doctors provide abortions to stabilize patients in emergencies.

Idaho maintained that its law allows abortions to save a patient's life and that federal requirements do not necessitate broader exceptions.

Reports of pregnant women being denied care in U.S. emergency rooms surged following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, according to federal documents.

Healthcare professionals in Idaho report heightened fear of performing abortions due to the law, which imposes severe penalties. Initially, a federal judge sided with the Biden administration, but the Supreme Court later allowed Idaho's restrictive law to be fully enforced in January.