What is the federal law at the center of the Supreme Court’s latest abortion case?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appears ready to rule that hospitals in Idaho may provide medically necessary abortions to stabilize patients at least for now, despite the state’s strict abortion law, according to a copy of the opinion that was briefly posted on Wednesday to the court’s website and obtained by Bloomberg News.

The document suggests that a 6-3 ruling from the court will reinstate a lower court’s order to allow Idaho emergency rooms to provide abortions that save a woman’s health as the broader legal case plays out.

The Justice Department had sued Idaho over its abortion law, which allows a woman to get an abortion only when her life — not her health — is at risk. Idaho doctors say they were unable to provide the stabilizing treatment the federal law requires and that is typically standard of care, prompting them to airlift at least a half-dozen pregnant patients to other states since Idaho’s law took effect in January.

But attorneys for Idaho have said their state law allows for women in dire circumstances to get an abortion and is not in conflict with the federal law.

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