The Supreme Court says emergency abortion access must be required in Idaho, for now, despite the state’s strict ban on the procedure.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling that will allow emergency abortion access in Idaho, for now, despite the state’s near-total ban on the procedure.
The court dismissed the case without considering the core issues, instead sending it back to the lower courts for further proceedings.
The move reinstates a federal district court’s ruling that a federal law requiring emergency rooms to provide stabilizing care to all patients preempts Idaho’s abortion ban when a woman’s health is at risk.
Idaho’s Defense of Life Act, enacted in 2022 after the fall of Roe v. Wade, prohibits nearly all abortions with exceptions only in reported cases of rape, incest or to prevent the death of the mother.
The Biden administration argued before the court the law is in conflict with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, which requires hospitals receiving Medicare funds to provide “necessary stabilizing treatment.”
But, Justice Elena Kagan argued, Idaho allows abortions only when necessary to prevent a pregnant woman’s death.
