US Supreme Court allows emergency abortions in Idaho

The US Supreme Court has ruled that emergency abortions in Idaho can go ahead.

When a patient’s health is at serious risk, hospitals in the northwestern state, for now, are allowed to perform emergency abortions.

This comes almost exactly two years after the landmark overturning of Roe v Wade, after which Idaho was among 14 states that outlawed abortion at all stages of pregnancy with incredibly limited exceptions.

The US justices found they had pre-emptively got involved in the case, and a 6-3 majority reinstated a lower court order that had allowed hospitals in the state to perform emergency abortions to protect a patient’s health.

The opinion, coming during an election year, means the Idaho case will continue to play out in lower courts, and could end up before the Supreme Court once again.

The same justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right to abortion could soon be again considering when doctors can provide abortion in medical emergencies – meaning the issue is still far from settled.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said: “Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay.

“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.”

Conservative judge Samuel Alito, who was key in the initial decision overturning Roe v. Wade, also disagreed with the decision to dismiss the case – though for different reasons than Justice Jackson.

Joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, he suggested the court should side with Idaho

The limited ruling seemingly attempts to sidestep putting the issue centre stage during an election year where abortion rights have been a contentious topic.

A temporary win for pro-choice campaigners

This was the most consequential ruling on abortion to confront the Supreme Court following the overturn of Roe v Wade – the nationwide right to abortion – two years ago.

Pregnant women’s emergency care was upended in Idaho after the state’s near-total ban on abortions came into force.

Doctors have been paralysed with the prospect of legal action or imprisonment, by breaking the abortion law, to make a hasty decision to save the mother’s life.

Multiple women in the state have had to be airlifted out to nearby liberal states to receive emergency abortions.

The Biden Administration intervened to try and break through the cracks in these harsh laws, and argued to the Supreme Court that emergency treatment takes precedence over the abortion restrictions.

But the Supreme Court stopped short of siding with them today by dismissing the case and throwing it back to the lower courts.

It is a temporary win for the Biden Administration, and pro-choice campaigners, as emergency abortions are once again allowed to take place in the state.

Biden’s campaign will no doubt use this case to galvanise support at tonight’s debate and the campaign trail going forward.

They can point to this as evidence of the Biden White House standing up for reproductive rights in a post-Roe America.

It’s a difficult issue for the Republicans to reckon with in this campaign – they know protections for abortions, especially in the most extreme circumstances, are popular.

When it comes to this case, Team Trump will argue it is up to individual states to decide their abortion laws, which the Supreme Court have once again affirmed today.

The court ruling is expected to have a significant effect on emergency care in other states with strict abortion bans.

The Supreme Court previously allowed the ban, which does permit abortion to save a pregnant patient’s life, to go into effect.

But since then, several women have needed medical airlifts out of state in cases where abortion is a routine treatment to avoid infection, haemorrhage and other dire health risks, Idaho doctors have said.

It was previously reported by Bloomberg that the Supreme Court briefly posted the opinion on the court’s website, before taking it down.

The Supreme Court acknowledged a document was inadvertently posted before the decision was confirmed Thursday.

President Joe Biden, in a statement, said: “Today’s Supreme Court order ensures that women in Idaho can access the emergency medical care they need while this case returns to the lower courts.

“No woman should be denied care, made to wait until she’s near death, or forced to flee her home state just to receive the health care she needs.

“This should never happen in America. Yet, this is exactly what is happening in states across the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.”

However, the procedural ruling has left key questions unanswered and it does not resolve the issues at the heart of the case.

Most Republican-controlled states began enforcing abortion restrictions two years ago – in the aftermath of the constitutional ruling.

Since then, there has been an increase in reports of pregnant women being turned away from US emergency rooms.

In a statement, Donald Trump’s national press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed President Biden and the Democrats were “out of touch” with the average American over the issue.

She added: “President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion.”

The Biden-Harris 2024 campaign released a new TV attack ad in the fallout from Thursday’s decision, reminding voters that more than 20 abortion bans remain in effect.

The ad features a testimonial from Dr Lauren Miller, a high-risk obstetrician who decided to leave Idaho because of the extreme abortion ban, which left her facing potential criminal charges for treating her patients – even in cases to protect their lives.

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