The US Supreme Court let abortions take place in medical emergencies in Idaho for the time being, making official a decision that was inadvertently posted online on Wednesday.
Over three dissents, the justices reinstated a federal trial court order that ensures hospitals in the state can perform emergency abortions to protect the health of the mother. The Supreme Court had blocked that order in January, letting Idaho fully enforce its near-total ban for five months.
The about-face is at least a temporary victory for abortion-rights advocates. Doctors and hospital administrators say the state’s law was keeping them from treating women with serious health risks even if they had no chance to deliver a healthy baby. Patients instead were forced to wait days for treatment or be rushed out of state.
