Supreme Court mistakenly posts draft opinion in key Idaho abortion case
The U.S. Supreme Court mistakenly posted a draft of an opinion on a key abortion case to its website Wednesday before quickly taking it down.
The opinion relates to whether Idaho hospitals are required to perform abortions in emergency situations despite a state law banning the act. Bloomberg News reported that the opinion was briefly posted to the website Wednesday morning before being taken down.
Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe confirmed to Fox News Digital that the opinion has not formally been posted.
"The opinion in Moyle v. United States, No. 23-726, and Idaho v. United States, No. 23-727, has not been released," she said in a statement. "The Court’s Publications Unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the Court’s website. The Court’s opinion in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States will be issued in due course."
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Bloomberg reported that the version of the opinion posted on Wednesday suggested that the court is prepared to side in the federal government's favor. If accurate, hospitals in states with abortion bans will be required to administer abortions in emergency situations while the case continues to be litigated. The version of the opinion that was posted said it was premature to decide the case on the merits since lower courts had yet to do so, and that the matter should go back to a federal court of appeals.
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Based on oral arguments in April, it was unclear from the public session how the court might eventually decide. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett asked aggressive questions of both sides.
Idaho officials argued hospitals cannot be forced by the Biden administration to perform abortions in potential emergency situations if the state has a near-total ban on the procedure – with an exception only to save the life of the mother.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department argued the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires health care providers to give "stabilizing treatment" – including abortions – for patients when needed to treat an emergency medical condition, even if doing so might conflict with a state's abortion restrictions.
The Supreme Court will go into recess in a matter of days, and the Idaho ruling could be formally released later this week.