Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson defended her dissenting opinion in a case concerning an Idaho abortion dispute earlier this year, saying she wanted to “express as clearly as possible” her views on the issue.
In June, the high court reinstated a lower court order that blocked Idaho from enforcing its near-total ban when an abortion is needed to preserve the health of the mother while legal proceedings continue, allowing abortions to be performed during certain medical emergencies in the state, although the court did not address the underlying issue at play.
“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,” she wrote.
“A dissent is the opportunity for the justices to express their differing views with respect to what the majority has done,” Jackson said Tuesday on “CBS Mornings.” “And I had a difference of opinion and I wanted to make clear why I thought what I did in that situation.”