The U.S. Supreme Court had a busy day Friday, when it agreed to hear two contentious cases. One will decide whether former President Donald Trump appears on ballots and the other tests how far states can go to limit abortion access.
Oral arguments for the Trump v. Anderson case are set for Feb. 8, said a Supreme Court order issued Friday. Petitioner’s brief on the merits, and any amicus curiae briefs are due by Jan. 18, respondents’ briefs are due Jan. 31 and reply briefs are to be filed by Feb. 5.
This case covers a ruling by a Colorado court that would prevent Trump – currently the frontrunner to be the GOP candidate in the upcoming presidential election – from appearing on Republican primary ballots. There, the court ruled Trump violated a 14th amendment rule barring insurrectionists from holding office due to his role in the violent and deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot and continued unfounded claims of election fraud.
“The case centers on the interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was enacted in the wake of the Civil War to disqualify individuals who had been federal (or state) government officials before the war and had sworn to uphold the Constitution but then served in the Confederacy,” explained the Howe on the Court blog.
In Colorado, the court put its ruling on hold until this Thursday to give SCOTUS time to consider the case.
A filing for Trump argued that the state court’s decision could be “used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide,” Howe on the Court reported. He also refuted having participated in an insurrection – and has worked to diminish the scale of the Jan. 6 event since the riot occurred.
Challengers and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold rejected Trump’s efforts to downplay his role in the Jan. 6 attacks, Howe on the Court said.
Trump said Friday during a campaign event in Iowa that there will be “big trouble” if the Supreme Court does not rule in his favor on his eligibility for the 2024 presidential ballot, The Hill reported. Out of nine justices on the Supreme Court, three have been appointed by Trump himself: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Along with Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, they make up a conservative majority on the court.
On Friday, Trump also outlined his plans for a second term in a Truth Social post.
“2024 is our Final Battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State, we will expel the warmongers from our government, we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, we will throw off the sick political class that hates our Country, we will rout the Fake News Media, and we will evict Crooked Joe Biden from the White House on Election Night 2024. MAGA!!!,” he said.
Another buzzworthy issue the Supreme Court agreed to consider is the Idaho abortion ban. In summer 2022, the court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade with its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling, opening up states to put in place more restrictive abortion laws.
Restrictive abortion laws in Idaho clash with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act that requires hospitals receiving Medicare funding to offer “necessary stabilizing treatment” to pregnant women in emergencies, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled. However, Idaho and its Republican majority legislature disagree.
“Calling the Biden administration’s lawsuit an ‘unauthorized power grab,’ both the state and the legislature came to the Supreme Court late last year, asking the justices to temporarily freeze Winmill’s ruling or fast-track the case for a ruling on the merits,” said Howe on the Court.
According to the blog, Idaho has argued that “nothing in EMTALA mentions abortion, much less requires hospitals to perform them, the state and the legislature argued that EMTALA was simply enacted to ensure that hospital emergency rooms treat poor or uninsured patients – not to impose a federal standard of care for patients.”
On the other hand, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said the law requires Medicare-funded hospitals to provide whatever treatment is required to stabilize a patient’s medical condition.
“Today’s Supreme Court order allows Idaho’s extreme abortion ban to go back into effect and denies women critical emergency abortion care required by federal law,” said President Joe Biden in a Friday statement. “The overturning of Roe v. Wade has enabled Republican elected officials to pursue dangerous abortion bans like this one that continue to jeopardize women’s health, force them to travel out of state for care, and make it harder for doctors to provide care, including in an emergency. These bans are also forcing doctors to leave Idaho and other states because of laws that interfere with their ability to care for their patients. This should never happen in America.”
According to an order issued Friday, cases related to this issue will be argued in April.