Supreme Court Accidentally Posts Key Idaho Opinion Suggesting It'll Allow Emergency Abortions, Report Says

 

A group of doctors joined abortion rights supporters outside the Supreme Court on April 24 while the court heard oral arguments on Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States to decide if Idaho emergency rooms can provide abortions to pregnant women during an emergency.

The Supreme Court briefly posted an opinion Wednesday morning in a case over Idaho’s strict abortion ban, indicating it would allow abortions in medical emergencies in the state—though the unofficial opinion was quickly removed, Bloomberg reported.

KEY FACTS

The version of the Supreme Court’s opinion posted Wednesday morning—which is not the final ruling as it was unofficial—indicated the court will dismiss Idaho’s appeal in the case, but not resolve the core issues, Bloomberg reported.

The decision in the draft appeared to show six justices in favor of the decision, and three conservative justices—Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch— dissenting, according to the report.

Patricia McCabe, the court’s public information officer, told Forbes in a statement the decision “has not been released” and the document was “inadvertently and briefly uploaded … to the Court’s website,” adding the court’s ruling will be issued “in due course.”

In Moyle v. U.S., the federal government argued hospitals in the state are required under federal law to provide abortions in emergency situations, even if the state doesn’t allow it.

Under Idaho’s 2020 Defense of Life Act, an abortion can only occur if it’s “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman” or in situations involving rape or incest.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

When the decision is officially released. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the abortion case in April, and is expected to issue a decision before the end of the term which is now expected in early July. It could be released as early as Thursday or Friday as decisions are due both of those days.

KEY BACKGROUND

Idaho is one of a number of states that banned abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and one of six that doesn’t allow exceptions in cases where there could be a non-life-threatening health risk. The Biden administration sued Idaho over the ban in August 2022, marking the first legal challenge the federal government made after the overturning of Roe. The Justice Department argued Idaho’s near-total ban violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires hospitals participating in Medicaid to give emergency treatment to people who need it. The state’s ban also gave Idaho the ability to arrest physicians who perform abortions in emergency settings. Idaho argued the federal emergency act “does not require emergency rooms to become abortion enclaves in violation of state law.”

TANGENT

The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade was also seen by the public ahead of its official release, after an unknown person leaked a draft to Politico. In May 2022, authenticating materials and a draft opinion from the court on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization calling Roe “egregiously wrong” and saying it “must be overruled” was leaked. About one month later, the court published the reversal. The Supreme Court eventually began an investigation into how the decision was leaked, but said in January 2023 it was unable to identify the person responsible despite narrowing it “a small number of suspects.”