The Supreme Court appears poised to allow abortions in medical emergencies in Idaho, according to a document that was erroneously posted on the court’s website briefly Wednesday according to Bloomberg News.
The opinion posted on the court’s website showed that a majority of the court agreed to dismiss the appeal, according to Bloomberg, which reported that it reviewed a copy of the opinion.
CNN had not independently reviewed the opinion. Bloomberg did not post the document.
A Supreme Court spokesperson confirmed that a “document” was “inadvertently and briefly uploaded” to the court’s website. Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe stressed that the “opinion” in the case “has not been released” and would be “issued in due course.”
A dismissal would let stand an opinion from the full 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with the Biden administration in the case.
Remember: At issue is Idaho’s strict abortion ban, which provides an exception for the life of the pregnant woman. The Biden administration argued that a federal law also required hospitals to perform abortions in cases where the health of the pregnant woman is at stake.
“If the reporting is accurate, this would be a significant but temporary victory for the Biden administration,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.
Why this matters: The court’s move as reported by Bloomberg also has the effect of defusing what could have been a major political bomb – on an issue Democrats are eager to have front and center – in an election year. As the Supreme Court approached the end of its term, abortion rights advocates were making preparations to use a ruling in Idaho’s favor to mobilize voters. The White House was also bracing for a ruling that rejected the Justice Department lawsuit, CNN previously reported.
Both the Department of Justice and the White House are declining to comment on Bloomberg’s story and the mistakenly posted document until the Supreme Court’s official opinion is released.
