The Ninth Circuit has stayed a federal injunction that had prevented Idaho officials from enforcing two abortion statutes against a doctor in cases involving a serious risk to a patient’s health that was not life-threatening.
After a bench trial, the district court concluded that historical practice protected abortions undertaken to prevent serious and lasting health harm, including a risk of death from self-harm. Idaho’s attorney general and a county prosecutor sought a complete stay while appealing.
The appellate majority found that the state had made a strong showing of likely success under the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs and had shown irreparable injury from being unable to enforce its laws. The stay restores Idaho’s statutory exception—limited to abortions necessary to prevent the pregnant woman’s death—during the appeal. Judge Marsha Berzon dissented, and Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote separately.
The order consolidates three appeals and sets an expedited briefing schedule. It is interim, not a final merits judgment. The published October 30 order contains the opinions.
