According to an opinion briefly posted on and promptly taken down from the official website of the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday, it appears that the Supreme Court is poised to allow Idaho to implement abortions in cases of medical emergencies.
The released version of the opinion indicated that the majority of justices would reject the appeal by Idaho state and Republican leaders, but the court did not issue a final ruling or resolution on the main points of contention in the case.
The opinion showed that the Court, by a 6-3 vote, decided to lift the stay of execution on a previous federal district court order that ensured hospitals in the state could perform emergency abortions to protect the health of the mother, with conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissenting.
In the attached opinion, Justice Elena Kagan stated that the Court’s decision “will prevent Idaho from enforcing its ban on abortions in cases where pregnancy termination is necessary to prevent serious harm to women’s health.”
Justice Alito, who voted against, expressed that the Court “has lost the will to address the simple but emotionally charged and highly politicized issues raised in this case.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade case in 2022, most Republican-led states have imposed strict limitations or bans on abortions.
The Biden administration has taken a series of measures to expand access to oral abortion pills. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised regulations early last year, allowing individuals to purchase oral abortion pills at retail pharmacies following certification procedures.
In early June, the nine Supreme Court Justices unanimously rejected a lawsuit brought by anti-abortion doctors aimed at restricting national access to the abortion pill Mifepristone. This marks the first significant abortion rights ruling made by the Court since its decision two years ago to end constitutional protections for abortion.
This case is the second major abortion-related case the Supreme Court has heard since 2022.
The Supreme Court’s Public Information Office stated that the ruling in this case has not been officially issued, so it may not be the final decision.
Patricia McCabe, the Court’s Public Information Officer, explained that “the Court’s publishing department inadvertently uploaded a document to the Court’s website briefly. The Court will release the decisions in the cases of Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States at the appropriate time.”