Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson refused to use the word “woman” in a partial dissent filed Thursday in a case reviewing Idaho's abortion ban.
Instead of answering the central issue in the case against Idaho's pro-life law – whether the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires doctors to perform emergency abortions – the Supreme Court dismissed the case as “frivolously authorized,” reinstated a lower court's injunction against Idaho's abortion ban, and sent the matter back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. opinionin which she concurred in the decision to reinstate the injunction and dissented from the decision to dismiss the case, clearly did not include gender-related terms.
“So let's be clear: today's ruling is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho,” Jackson wrote. “It is a delay. While this court dithers and the country waits, pregnant people in need of emergency medical care remain in a precarious position because their doctors are not informed of what the law requires.”
“As long as we refuse to make the declarations required by law, pregnant patients in Idaho, Texas and elsewhere will pay the price,” Jackson wrote. (Related: “Woman” named Dictionary.com word of the year after search numbers spike during Ketanji Brown-Jackson hearings)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 07: U.S. President Joe Biden greets Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as he enters the House chamber to deliver the annual State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress at the Capitol Building in Washington, DC on March 7, 2024. (Photo by Shawn Zaw Pool/Getty Images)
During his 2022 confirmation hearing, Jackson told Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn that he couldn't provide a definition of the word “woman.”
“I'm not a biologist,” she replied.
The concurring opinion, written by Justice Elena Kagan, in which Jackson joined in part, used the word “woman.”
“Because Idaho law is inconsistent with its requirements to prohibit hospitals from complying with EMTALA's orders, the Court is right to lift the stay of the district court's injunction,” Kagan wrote, “so that Idaho women can once again receive all of the necessary medical care guaranteed by EMTALA.”
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