When can doctors provide emergency abortions in states with strict bans? Supreme Court to weigh in

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after overturning the constitutional right to abortion, the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday how far state bans can extend to women in medical emergencies.

The justices are weighing a case from Idaho, where a strict abortion ban went into effect shortly after the high court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The case marks the first time the Supreme Court has considered a state ban since then, and comes as the justices consider another case — still pending — seeking to restrict access to abortion medication.

The Biden administration argues that hospitals must be allowed to terminate pregnancies in rare emergencies where a patient’s life or health is at serious risk, even in states where abortions are banned. Idaho says its law does have an exception for life-saving abortions, and it contends the Biden administration wants to define health emergencies more broadly to turn hospitals into “abortion enclaves.”

Idaho is one of 14 states that now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions. Most Republican-controlled states have started enforcing new bans or restrictions since Roe was overturned, and 22 states filed court papers supporting Idaho. The Supreme Court has allowed the Idaho abortion ban to go into effect, even during emergencies, as the case played out.

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