In a surprising turn of events, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal over Idaho’s strict abortion ban on Thursday, halting enforcement of the state’s law just a day after the opinion was mistakenly published on the court’s website, breaking from its usual meticulously controlled procedures.
The case revolved around a state law that prohibited abortions except to save the life of the pregnant woman. The Biden administration contended that a federal law mandated hospitals to also offer abortions in situations where the health of the pregnant woman is in jeopardy.
The unsigned opinion prompted a mix of concurrences from both conservative and liberal justices, who banded together to reject the case and temporarily halt the implementation of Idaho’s stringent ban. Despite Idaho technically losing the case, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson emphasized in a partial dissent that the potential repercussions are likely to be brief.
“This decision today does not benefit pregnant patients in Idaho,” Jackson stated. “It only means a delay.”
The ruling effectively removes abortion from the Supreme Court’s docket amidst a contentious presidential election, although the issue is expected to resurface before the justices. Just earlier this month, the court dismissed another abortion case concerning increased accessibility to the abortion pill mifepristone. In that instance, the court unanimously determined that the anti-abortion doctors and organizations who brought the lawsuit lacked standing.
Aside from the Idaho decision, the public also gained an early insight into the outcome when a version of the opinion was mistakenly published online for a brief period. Bloomberg caught wind of the opinion and shared it online on Wednesday before the court promptly took it down.
This article has been updated with further details.
