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On Friday, December 5, the US Supreme Court allowed the state of Idaho to implement its strict abortion ban, even when a medical emergency arises.
It said that it would hear arguments concerning this ruling in April. For now, they put a hold on the ruling by a lower court that blocked the Idaho state law from enforcing the ban in cases of hospital emergencies.
This is the second major abortion dispute handled by the Supreme Court since 2022 when the justices overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing U.S. states to severely enforce a ban on abortions.
The court also awaits another hearing regarding the FDA’s (Food and Drug Administration) rules for mifepristone possession — a medication used in abortion.
The Biden administration filed a lawsuit and objected to the ruling, arguing that the hospitals in the U.S. that receive medical funds are required to provide emergency care, including abortion, by federal law. The administration said that hospitals are required to provide the care irrespective of an abortion ban in place.
With the new ruling, the state of Idaho criminalizes the execution of abortion and its assistance. Anyone who would perform an abortion or assist someone in it would face up to five years in prison.
The Supreme Court's ruling on Friday spurred severe criticism online, though. One user commented on AP's X post on the same and compared Idaho with Gilead, the fictional state from Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel 'The Handmaid's Tale'.
US Supreme CourtIdaho and the state of Idaho come under fire for strict abortion ban enforcement
Idaho's abortion ban has been compared to Atwood's Gilead by many. Gilead, as described in the books, is a place primarily run by men, where women's rights are curbed with the utmost atrocity.
The U.S. red state's abortion ban infuriated many on the internet. They raised their voice against what they dubbed "religious extremism". People slammed the Republican-led SCOTUS for not caring about women's lives. They argued a fetus, which is yet to come to life would not potentially survive if the mother dies.
The Defense of Life Act was previously blocked under federal law
Idaho enacted the abortion law, Defense of Life Act in 2020, with a provision that stated it would come into effect if the SCOTUS overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973 that allowed women the right to end pregnancy.
In 2020, as the Supreme Court rolled back Roe v. Wade guaranteeing women’s constitutional right to abortion, the Defense of Life Act went into effect. The federal government sued the state, which led a federal judge to block Idaho from implementing the law in August 2022. Biden took to X to criticize Friday's ruling.
He said that these bans further endanger women's lives, as they don't get any medical care in their own states, forcing them to travel to another state while pregnant,, delaying the process of receiving treatment on time.
