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The Supreme Court in Washington on June 26, 2024.
CNN
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The Supreme Court formally rejected an appeal of Idaho’s strict anti-abortion law on Thursday and blocked the state’s law from going into effect, a stunning departure from the court’s tightly controlled procedure that came a day after the ruling was mistakenly posted on the court’s website.
The lawsuit was based on a state law that bans abortions except in cases where the life of a pregnant woman is at risk. The Biden administration argued that federal law requires hospitals to provide abortions even when a pregnant woman’s health is at risk.
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The unsigned opinion drew a flurry of concurring opinions from conservative and liberal justices who formed an unusual coalition to dismiss the case, temporarily blocking enforcement of Idaho’s strict ban. While the decision was technically a loss for Idaho, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in a partial dissent, emphasized that its potential impact was likely to be short-lived.
“Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho,” Jackson wrote. “It is a delay.”
The decision clears the abortion issue from the Supreme Court’s docket in the midst of a hotly contested presidential election, though the issue is almost certain to return to the court’s hearings in the future. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected another abortion case, an appeal challenging expanded access to the abortion drug mifepristone. In that case, the court unanimously ruled that the anti-abortion doctors and groups who brought the suit did not have standing to be parties to the litigation.
Almost as notable as the Idaho decision itself is the fact that parts of the decision were accidentally posted online for a short period of time, giving the public an early glimpse into the decision’s outcome. Bloomberg became aware of the decision and posted it online on Wednesday before the court removed it.
This story has been updated with additional details.
