U.S. Supreme Court Temporarily Permits Emergency Abortions in Idaho

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to temporarily allow emergency abortions in Idaho, enabling pregnant women to receive medical care during emergencies while the case is sent back to lower courts. The 6-3 decision reinstated a federal judge’s ruling that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) of 1986, which mandates hospitals receiving Medicare funds to stabilize patients with emergency conditions, overrides Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. This ban, supported by Republicans, offers no exceptions for the health of pregnant women. President Joe Biden’s administration had sued Idaho over the law.

A version of the ruling was mistakenly posted on the court’s website on Wednesday, marking the second premature disclosure of a major abortion decision in two years. Biden welcomed the Supreme Court’s order, emphasizing that women should not be denied emergency medical care or forced to leave their state to receive necessary health services. He linked the situation to the broader landscape following the Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade, which had established a constitutional right to abortion since 1973. Biden, who is campaigning for re-election, has focused on abortion rights as a key issue against Republicans, including his opponent, Donald Trump.

Trump, who appointed three of the six justices in the majority for the 2022 ruling, has faced challenges on the abortion issue during his campaign. He supports exceptions for rape, incest, and the mother’s life in states with abortion bans and backs the availability of in-vitro fertilization. Thursday’s order removed the stay placed on the judge’s ruling in January but did not resolve the case’s merits, sending it back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for further review. Mike Moyle, the Republican speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives and a party in the case, expressed hope that the lower courts would uphold Idaho’s abortion law.