Supreme Court's Unexpected Move on Idaho Abortion Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to allow abortions in Idaho during medical emergencies, as per a leaked ruling. This decision would reinstate a lower court's ruling that prioritizes the 1986 EMTALA law over Idaho's near-total abortion ban in conflicts. The ruling leak marks the second major abortion-related disclosure in two years.

The U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to allow abortions to be carried out in Idaho in cases of medical emergencies, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a copy of a ruling it said was briefly posted on the court's website. A court spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Supreme Court has not officially released its ruling in the case.

According to the report, the decision would effectively reinstate a lower court's ruling that had found that Idaho's near-total abortion ban must yield to a 1986 U.S. law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) when the two statutes conflict. EMTALA ensures that patients can receive emergency care at hospitals that receive funding under the federal Medicare program. The development on Wednesday marked the second time in two years that a major Supreme Court ruling on abortion has been disclosed before being formally issued by the justices. In May 2022, a draft of a ruling authored by Justice Samuel Alito of the decision that overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent that had legalized abortion nationwide was leaked a month before being formally issued.