The United States Supreme Court accidentally released an opinion on Wednesday regarding a case involving Idaho’s abortion ban.
A copy of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Idaho’s ban on emergency abortion was posted online and quickly removed.
Bloomberg News obtained the document and published a copy of it on Wednesday. It is unclear if the document is the final ruling or a draft decision.
It looks like the Supreme Court will permit emergency doctors to perform abortions under specific circumstances:
“Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote, according to the document. “While this court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires.”
As reported by NBC News:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday acknowledged that it inadvertently posted online a document related to a pending abortion case, which was obtained by Bloomberg Law before it was removed from the website.
Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe confirmed that a document was “inadvertently and briefly uploaded” to the court website, but added that the ruling “has not been released.”
Bloomberg also posted a copy of the document. NBC News could not independently verify the document. It is not known if it was a draft decision, the actual decision or neither.
The court appears set to allow emergency room doctors in Idaho to perform abortions in certain situations according to a copy of the decision, Bloomberg reported. The court is likely to dismiss the appeal brought by Idaho officials, Bloomberg said.
Remember that in May 2022, a draft of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to Josh Gerstein, Politico’s senior legal reporter.
Last year the Supreme Court issued a report on the Dobbs draft leak. The report says the leaker could not be found and that new protocols for drafts have been put in place.
Ninety-seven Supreme Court staffers were interviewed and signed sworn affidavits under penalty of perjury, denying that they leaked the Dobbs draft. Justice Alito said despite this report, he likely knows who the leaker is.
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