JUST IN: Supreme Court Briefly Posted Abortion Opinion Before Taking It Down

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File

The Supreme Court’s decision on an Idaho abortion ban was briefly posted on the official site on Wednesday before it was taken down.

It was up long enough to indicate that a 6-3 majority of the court were going to rule in favor of a lower court’s decision to pause the ban, allowing for emergency rooms to treat women whose health was at risk. A spokesperson for SCOTUS confirmed that “a document” was posted by accident:

“The court’s publications unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the court’s website,” said the spokeswoman, Patricia McCabe . “The court’s opinion in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States will be issued in due course.”

Bloomberg Law was the first to report on the document in question, stating that the decision appeared to issue a dismissal of appeals by “Idaho and Republican leaders” and that the case was “improvidently granted.” The document was not posted on their site.

While the decision would be a victory for abortion rights supporters, the ruling does not address Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. A lower court had ruled that the ban be paused in the cases of pregnant women in emergency situations where their lives were at stake. If the ruling stands as reported, SCOTUS is apparently prepared to dismiss appeals on that pause, a victory for the federal government who challenged Idaho’s abortion ban on the grounds of federal requirements to provide emergency care to patients.

SCOTUS previously issued a unanimous decision that allowed continued access to mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill or medical abortion.

This story has been updated.