Supreme Court rules that ER doctors can perform abortions in Idaho, confirming draft accidentally posted online

The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration on Thursday when it ruled that emergency room doctors can now perform emergency abortions in Idaho, despite the state's near-total ban on abortion.

The decision comes after a version of the opinion was briefly posted to the Supreme Court's website by mistake on Wednesday. It was obtained by Bloomberg Law before it was removed. This is the second time within three years that an abortion-related opinion has leaked.

In the 6-3 decision, the court dismissed an appeal that was brought by Idaho officials. But the justices did not answer the question of whether the Biden administration’s interpretation of the federal law conflicts with Idaho’s state abortion ban.

Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in 2022, the Biden administration issued guidance stating that Medicare-participating hospitals have to provide necessary stabilizing treatment to pregnant women in certain medical emergencies under federal law (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act/EMTALA). The Biden administration views abortions as one of those necessary treatments.

However, Idaho and the state legislature challenged the Biden administration’s decision, saying the federal law conflicts with its state law that bans abortions (Idaho’s Defense of Life Act).

Meanwhile, because Idaho's full abortion ban law has been allowed to take effect, several patients have had to be airlifted out of the state due to pregnancy complications.

This is the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on a state's abortion ban since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

Read the Supreme Court ruling here:

🧑‍⚖️ What the justices said

The majority opinion consisted of the high court’s three liberal justices — Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson — as well as Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Justice Kagan acknowledged in her concurring opinion that Idaho’s largest emergency services provider has had to airlift women out of state roughly every other week due to the state’s abortion ban. The justices decision, she wrote, “will prevent Idaho from enforcing its abortion ban when the termination of a pregnancy is needed to prevent serious harms to a woman’s health.”

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson concurred in part, and dissented in part with the decision. “Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay,” she wrote. “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. This Court had a chance to bring clarity and certainty to this tragic situation, and we have squandered it," she added.

Meanwhile, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.

Alito focused on language in the Emergency Medical Treatment Labor Act (EMTALA) that refers to protecting the “unborn child” in his dissent.

“Far from requiring hospitals to perform abortions, EMTALA’s text unambiguously demands that Medicare-funded hospitals protect the health of both a pregnant woman and her ‘unborn child,’” Alito wrote. He also later added in his dissent that “EMTALA obligates Medicare-funded hospitals to treat, not abort, an ‘unborn child.’”

🔎 What the ruling means

While the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration by dismissing the appeal, it's not considered a win. The question of whether the Biden administration's interpretation of the federal law (EMTALA) conflicts with Idaho's state abortion ban law was never answered by the justices and remains unresolved. It's likely the issue will appear again at some point before the high court because the underlying lawsuit will be allowed to continue at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the Associated Press.

For now, emergency room doctors in Idaho can perform emergency abortions in Medicare-funded hospitals to protect the life of the mother.

⚖️ What Idaho’s abortion law says

Idaho is one of 14 states with a complete abortion ban in place, with very limited exceptions, which includes when “necessary to prevent the death of a pregnant woman.” Otherwise, anyone who performs the procedure can face criminal penalties, including up to five years in prison, and healthcare professionals risk losing their medical license.

This is a breaking news story. Please refresh this page for updates.