A post-Dobbs first: A court recognizes a constitutional right to some abortions

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled that the 14th Amendment provides a narrow right to abortion when a pregnancy threatens a patient's physical or mental health, blocking enforcement of Idaho's near-total ban in those circumstances. It is the first ruling since Dobbs to recognize any constitutional abortion right, and legal scholars suggest it could chip away at Dobbs the way anti-abortion litigation once eroded Roe.

Idaho is one of five states with near-total bans that lack a health exception; all 13 states with such bans include only a life exception, which doctors say is often impossible to define in the moment. Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has appealed to the 9th Circuit and asked for a stay, arguing the state's interest in restricting abortion is being harmed.

Dr. Stacy Seyb, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, brought the underlying suit in 2024 arguing the ban prevented him from properly treating high-risk patients. Winmill's opinion distinguished the case from Dobbs by framing it around health-threatening pregnancies rather than elective abortion.

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