The Supreme Court appears ready to allow abortions during medical emergencies in Idaho, according to a decision obtained by Bloomberg. The decision was briefly posted on the court’s website and removed. The press office said it was inadvertent and will be officially released in due course.
According to the posted decision, which could change, the justices will rule 6-3 that doctors at Idaho hospitals can perform abortions to protect the health of the mother. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch will dissent, according to the decision.
As Bloomberg pointed out, the court did not address broader questions, like whether state laws that create an outright ban on abortions. Those bans conflict with a federal law that requires hospitals provide stabilizing care to patients experiencing an emergency.
“Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is a delay,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a concurring opinion. “While this court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires.”
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his dissent that the court “has simply lost the will to decide the easy but emotional and highly politicized question that the case presents.”
The court’s decision in this case will lift a stay on a district court’s ruling. Now a San Francisco appeals court will consider the case on the merits.
