Abortion advocates warn of ‘chaos and confusion’ in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Idaho ruling

Abortion advocates tempered excitement over the Supreme Court ruling that allowed hospitals to perform abortions in Idaho and instead warned about “chaos and confusion” for pregnant families and health care providers.

Idaho’s harsh ban only allows pregnant people to get the procedure in the case of preventing death, not severe health complications. The government argued the ban should not take precedence over a federal law, which requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment for patients with emergency medical conditions.

“Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay,” Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in the 6-3 majority decision. “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.”

Abortion advocates echoed the sentiment, underscoring the need for further clarification on the right to an abortion in Idaho and across the country.

Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, an OBGYN and the CEO of the nonprofit Power to Decide, issued a statement, claiming the ruling “continues the chaos and confusion that has endangered the lives of far too many people living in states where abortion is banned or severely restricted.”

“I fear today’s decision will not provide the needed clarity to ensure that health care providers across the country feel safe providing the standard of care every pregnant person seeking emergency medical services deserves,” she said.

Idaho providers even told the court their patients had to be airlifted out of their home state to access the necessary care under the state’s strict ban.

Both pregnant people and