Supreme Court Rejects Attack On Emergency Abortion Care In Idaho

The Supreme Court rejected an attack on emergency abortion care in Idaho in a Thursday morning ruling.

While the decision is a sigh of relief for many abortion rights advocates, many people ― including some Supreme Court justices ― are cautioning against calling it a win.

The ruling was “per curiam,” meaning it was unsigned. Six justices — Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts ― wrote concurring opinions. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch wrote dissents. The court reinstated a lower court ruling that allowed hospital emergency rooms in Idaho to perform emergency abortions to save the life and health of a pregnant person.

The decision is in line with the draft opinion that was accidentally published to the court’s website on Wednesday morning, setting off a flurry of activity and confusion for media and advocates on both sides of the issue. The opinion was removed from the site shortly after it was published.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned in the ruling that “storm clouds loom ahead.”

“Despite the clarity of the legal issue and the dire need for an answer from this Court, today six Justices refuse to recognize the rights that EMTALA protects,” Jackson wrote. “The majority opts, instead, to dismiss these cases. But storm clouds loom ahead. Three Justices suggest, at least in this context, that States have free rein to nullify federal law.”

The core of this case looked at whether that language conflicted with a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. EMTALA requires hospitals that participate in Medicare — the majority of hospitals in the country — to offer abortion care if it’s