By EFE
Jun 26, 2024, 17:03 PM EDT
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court acknowledged this Wednesday that it mistakenly uploaded to its website a document about a relevant case in which the legality of emergency abortions in the state of Idaho is studied, an opinion that has not been officially published.
“The Court’s publications unit inadvertently and briefly posted a document on the Court’s website,” Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said in a statement.
This opinion, according to the document obtained by Bloomberg, seems to indicate that the judges of the highest court would be in favor of allowing access to emergency abortions.
In the statement, McCabe recalled that the opinion “has not been published” and that it will be issued “in due course.”
It is, therefore, not a closed opinion because, according to the American press, by tradition and according to the rules of the court, judges can change their minds until the moment of its publication.
According to CNN, this is the second time in two years that the court prematurely released a major decision related to an abortion case.
Two years ago, Politico obtained a draft of the high court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a document that was substantially the same as the final opinion the court released weeks later.
Since in June 2022 the highest US court, with a conservative majority, eliminated federal protection for abortion by annulling the ‘Roe v. Wade’, dozens of states – Idaho among them – have carried out a frontal attack on women’s rights by implementing restrictive anti-abortion laws.
That same year, the Administration of current US President Joe Biden sued the state of Idaho – where abortion is prohibited at all stages of pregnancy – alleging that restrictions on this procedure are regulated in part by federal law and are not can intervene when it comes to saving the lives of pregnant women.
To defend this position, the 40-year-old Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was invoked, which requires hospitals that receive federal funds to provide emergency medical care to anyone, including for reproductive issues.