The Supreme Court seems poised to allow emergency abortions in Idaho, a Bloomberg News report says
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) β The Supreme Court seems ready to authorize emergency measures abortions in Idaho when a pregnant patient’s health is at serious risk, according to Bloomberg News, which said a copy of the opinion was briefly posted on the court’s website Wednesday.
The document suggests that the court will conclude that it should not have intervened in the case so quickly and will reinstate a court order that allowed hospitals in the state to perform emergency abortions to protect the health of a pregnant patient, according to Bloomberg. The document was quickly removed from the website.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that a document had been accidentally posted on Wednesday.
βThe Court’s Publications Unit accidentally briefly uploaded a document to the Court’s website. The Court’s judgment in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States will be announced in due course,β court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said in a statement.
The case would continue in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if the Supreme Court dismisses the lawsuit.
This finding may not be the court’s final ruling as it has not yet been officially released.
The Biden administration had sued Idaho, arguing that hospitals should perform abortions to stabilize pregnant patients in rare emergencies when their health is seriously at risk.
Most Republican-controlled states began imposing restrictions after the court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.
Idaho is one of fourteen states that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with very limited exceptions. It said the ban allows abortions to save the life of a pregnant patient and that federal law does not require the exceptions to be expanded.
The Supreme Court had previously allowed the measure to take effect even in medical emergencies while the case played out. Several women have since required air medical transport outside the state in cases where abortion is a routine treatment to prevent infections, bleeding and other serious health risks, Idaho doctors say.
The Supreme Court’s eventual ruling is expected to have a ripple effect on emergency rooms in other states with strict abortion bans. There are already reports about pregnant women rejected by US emergency room rose sharply after the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that struck down the constitutional right to abortion, according to federal documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit fell under a federal law that requires hospitals that accept Medicare to provide stabilizing care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. It’s called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA.
Nearly all hospitals accept Medicare, so emergency room doctors in Idaho and other states with bans should perform abortions as necessary to stabilize a pregnant patient and avoid serious health risks such as reproductive organ loss, the Department of Health argued. Justice.
Idaho argued that the patient’s life exception covers dire health conditions and that the Biden administration misinterpreted the law to circumvent the state ban and expand abortion access.
Doctors have said the Idaho law has made them afraid to perform abortions even if a pregnancy seriously endangers a patient’s health. The law requires anyone convicted of performing an abortion to receive a prison sentence of at least two years.
A federal judge initially sided with the Democratic administration and ruled that abortions were legal in medical emergencies. After the state appealed, the Supreme Court allowed the law to take full effect in January.
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