The contentious issue of abortion has returned to the Supreme Court, with the justices prepared on Wednesday to weigh a states rights challenge over hospital emergency room access to the procedure.
The contentious issue of abortion has returned to the Supreme Court, with the justices prepared on Wednesday to weigh a states’ rights challenge over hospital emergency room access to the procedure.
In scheduled morning oral arguments, the high court will confront whether state abortion restrictions are invalidated by a federal law.
Idaho officials say hospitals cannot be forced by the Biden administration to perform abortions in potentially emergency situations – even if the state has a near total ban on the procedure – with an exception only to save the life of the mother.
The Justice Department argues the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires health care providers to give «stabilizing treatment» – including abortions – for patients when needed to treat an emergency medical condition, even if doing so might conflict with a state’s abortion restrictions.
The state can enforce its restrictions until a final ruling.
The latest debate comes as the court again confronts perhaps the nation’s most divisive social issue, with several state voter referendums planned for the November elections over abortion rights.
