Supreme Court Appears Poised to Allow, for Now, Emergency Abortions in Idaho

The Supreme Court seems poised to temporarily allow emergency abortions in Idaho when a woman’s health is at risk, according to Bloomberg News, which reported on Wednesday that a copy of an opinion briefly appeared on the court’s website.

It was unclear whether the document was final and a spokeswoman for the court declined to confirm what had been posted to its website, saying only that a decision in the case, Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States, would eventually be released.

“The court’s publications unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the court’s website,” said the spokeswoman, Patricia McCabe. “The court’s opinion in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States will be issued in due course.”

According to Bloomberg, which did not immediately post the document online, the ruling indicated that a majority of the court had agreed to dismiss the case as “improvidently granted.”

Such a decision would reinstate a ruling by a lower court that paused Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion and said hospitals in the state could perform emergency abortions if necessary to protect the health of the mother.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Julie Tate contributed research.