“Pregnant Patients:” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Refuses to Use Word “Woman” in Abortion Ruling

In the Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday regarding an abortion case out of Idaho, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noticeably refused to use the word “woman” and other traditionally gender-based language when referring to those who would seek abortions in the first place.

As reported by the Daily Caller, in Jackson’s partial dissent in the joined cases of Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States, she declared that the court’s ruling was “not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho.”

“While this Court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires,” Jackson continued, again using the bizarre phrase “pregnant people” instead of “women.”

“For as long as we refuse to declare what the law requires, pregnant patients in Idaho, Texas, and elsewhere will be paying the price,” she concluded.

The cases in question regarded the matter of whether or not federal requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) could cover emergency abortion procedures to save the life of the mother, and whether or not this would conflict with Idaho’s existing pro-life law. The Supreme Court ultimately declined to make a ruling one way or the other, declaring the cases to be “improvidently granted,” and instead upheld an injunction on the pro-life law that had been issued by a lower court. The case will go back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for a final ruling.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Elena Kagan noticeably did use the word “woman.”

“Because the Idaho law conflicts with that requirement— prevents hospitals from doing what EMTALA commands—the Court is right to dissolve its stay of the District Court’s injunction,” said Kagan. “Doing so will again give Idaho women access to all the needed medical treatments that EMTALA guarantees.”

In an infamous exchange during her 2022 Senate confirmation hearings, Jackson was asked by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) if she could provide a definition of the word “woman.” After initially appearing as if she did not understand the question, a visibly nervous Jackson refused to give an answer, saying “I’m not a biologist.”