The law could penalize doctors performing the procedure in medical emergencies
The Supreme Court has allowed Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, which applies to medical emergencies. The decision arrived on Friday as a legal battle over reproductive rights rages on in the state, and is the first time the high court weighed in on Idaho’s abortion ban since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
A lower court ruling that blocked the law in hospital emergencies was put on hold and justices agreed to hear an appeal in April. The court order rebuffs the Biden administration’s argument that hospitals receiving Medicare funds are required by federal law to provide emergency care. In the wake of 2022’s Supreme Court ruling, the administration issued guidelines on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). In a letter to healthcare providers, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra emphasized that state law restricting access to abortion in emergency situations would be preempted by federal law. A month after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the Democratic administration sued Idaho.
Although a district court ruled in favor of the administration and blocked the ban, Idaho appealed and the injunction was lifted by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit reversed the ruling and had set arguments in the case for late January.
Idaho has led the push to criminalize abortion. After the high court ended the landmark 1973 decision that enshrined abortion protections in federal law, the state’s “Defense of Life Act” went into effect and banned abortion in nearly all circumstances, with the exception for when the procedure is “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” According to Idaho’s law, anyone who performs a “criminal abortion” could face up to five years in prison.