The Supreme Court seems poised to temporarily allow emergency abortions in Idaho when a woman’s health is at risk, according to a copy of what appeared to be the opinion posted briefly on the court’s website.
The unsigned opinion says that the case was “dismissed as improvidently granted,” according to the 22-page document, which was posted by Bloomberg News.
Such a decision would reinstate a ruling by a lower federal court that had paused Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion and said hospitals in the state could perform emergency abortions if necessary to protect the health of the mother.
It was unclear whether the document was final and a spokeswoman for the court declined to confirm what had been posted to its website, saying only that a decision in the case, Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States, would eventually be released.
“The court’s publications unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the court’s website,” said the spokeswoman, Patricia McCabe. “The court’s opinion in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States will be issued in due course.”
If the document reflects a final decision by the Supreme Court, it would be the second time that the justices have deflected ruling on the merits of abortion this term. The opinion on Wednesday suggested that the justices would not rule on the substance of the case — a clash between Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion and a federal law that requires emergency care — but simply say that women could retain access to emergency abortions as the case works its way through the courts.
This month, the justices sidestepped ruling on the merits of a bid by a group of anti-abortion medical organizations and doctors to curtail the availability of a common abortion drug used in a majority of abortions in the country.
In that case, F.D.A. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the justices found that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring the challenge to start, preserving widespread access to the drug.
The apparent publication of the opinion in the Idaho abortion case, coming amid the frenzied final days of the term, echoed the chaos two years ago after a draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned a constitutional right to abortion, leaked.
The document posted to the court’s website was dated Wednesday, June 26. However, the justices announced only two rulings that morning. Neither involved abortion.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Julie Tate contributed research.
