Supreme Court rejects Biden admin's appeal in Texas emergency abortion case

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court's order that said hospitals cannot be forced to terminate a pregnancy if it violates Texas law, rejecting a move by the Biden-Harris administration to overturn the measure.

The administration contends that hospitals must perform abortions in cases where a pregnant patient's health or life is at risk, even in states where it is prohibited. The administration upheld its claims in the Supreme Court's decision in a similar case in Idaho, in which the justices allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continued.

The Texas government asked the justices to leave the order in place, arguing that the circumstances are different than in Idaho because Texas has an exception for cases with serious health risks to a pregnant patient. At the time the Idaho case began, the state had an exception for a woman's life being at risk, but not for her health. In this regard, the Idaho state Supreme Court ruled that doctors do not have to wait until a woman's life is in danger to provide a legal abortion.

The Supreme Court's decision comes less than a month before a presidential election in which abortion has been one of the key campaign issues, after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

The Biden-Harris administration issued guidance for hospitals to perform abortions in emergency situations under a health care law that requires most hospitals to treat any patient with medical problems. Texas filed a lawsuit against this regulation on the grounds that hospitals cannot be forced to perform abortions that would violate its law. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state and ruled in January that the Biden- Harris administration had exceeded its authority.