Supreme Court sounds wary of Idaho's ban on emergency abortions for women whose health is in danger

Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned whether Idaho would use its laws to prosecute doctors who perform emergency room abortions. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh also voiced doubt about the state’s argument.

Barrett cast a key vote to strike down Roe vs. Wade, but took on the Idaho attorney Wednesday for refusing to say whether doctors could perform abortions in certain emergencies.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited real cases from Florida and elsewhere, but Turner refused to give a yes-or-no answer as to whether such abortions would be legal in Idaho.

“Counsel, I’m kind of shocked actually because I thought your own expert has said these kinds of case were covered,” Barrett said.

“It’s a subjective standard ... and very case-by-case,” Turner replied.

The exchange highlighted the problem cited by emergency room doctors in Idaho. They cannot know for sure whether an abortion would be legal under the state’s law.

What happens if the state’s lawyers believe a doctor’s intervention was not justified? “Would they be prosecuted under Idaho’s law?” Barrett asked.

Even if other doctors support the decision, “what if the prosecutor thought differently?” she said.

Roberts pressed the same point. “What happens if a dispute arises with respect to whether or not the doctor was within the confines of the Idaho law or wasn’t? Is the doctor subjected to review by a medical authority?”

Possibly, according to the state attorney. “The Board of Medicine has licensing oversight over a doctor,” Turner replied.

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