Biden administration sues to block Idaho abortion ban, says it violates federal law
The U.S. Department of Justice has sued the state of Idaho in an attempt to block its forthcoming abortion ban.
Idaho’s abortion trigger law — which is set to take effect this month — violates a federal law that requires hospitals receiving Medicare funding to “provide necessary stabilizing treatment” to patients experiencing a medical emergency, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Idaho’s federal court Tuesday.
“If a patient comes into the emergency room with a medical emergency jeopardizing the patient’s life or health, the hospital must provide the treatment necessary to stabilize that patient,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a news conference Tuesday. “This includes abortion, if that is the necessary treatment.”
This month the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to abandon federal protections for abortion will trigger a 2020 Idaho law banning most such procedures. The law provides exceptions when the pregnancy puts the woman’s life at risk or if the pregnancy was a result of incest or rape — as long as that crime was reported to law enforcement.
But the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) says that if a person with an “emergency medical condition” seeks treatment at a hospital that accepts Medicare funds, the hospital must “provide medical treatment necessary to stabilize that condition before transferring or discharging the patient.”
Under the statute, “emergency medical conditions” include not just life-threatening conditions but also conditions that seriously jeopardize a patient’s health, along with other situations, the complaint said.
Idaho’s trigger contradicts the federal statute because it “preemptively criminalizes all abortions … even where a denial of care will likely result in the death of the patient,” said U.S. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta during the news conference.
“The law thus places medical professionals in an impossible situation,” Gupta said. “They must either withhold stabilizing treatment required by EMTALA or risk felony prosecution and license revocation. In so doing, the law will chill providers’ willingness to perform abortions in emergency situations and will hurt patients by blocking access to medically necessary health care.”
The Justice Department has asked an Idaho district court to declare Idaho’s law invalid under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law has precedence over state law. U.S. attorneys have also asked the court to permanently enjoin the Idaho law to the extent it conflicts with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden chided the Justice Department for its lack of communication with state officials regarding Idaho’s abortion laws.
“It’s unfortunate that, instead of sitting down with the State of Idaho to discuss the interplay between its abortion laws and EMTALA, the U.S. Department of Justice has chosen to file a politically motivated lawsuit,” Wasden said in a news release.
Meanwhile, the state faces three lawsuits from Planned Parenthood seeking to block multiple Idaho laws that restrict abortion. The Idaho Supreme Court on Wednesday will host a hearing on two of the three.
‘Heartbeat’ law a backstop for near-total abortion ban
Planned Parenthood is challenging a separate law that would make it a felony for medical professionals to perform an abortion after what lawmakers call “a fetal heartbeat,” better described as electrical activity, is detected.
Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, helped craft the “fetal heartbeat” law, which the Idaho Legislature passed and Gov. Brad Little signed in 2021. The law goes into effect 30 days after a similar “heartbeat” law is upheld in a U.S. appellate court. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a similar law in Georgia, triggering Idaho’s law 30 days after the July 20 ruling, according to Planned Parenthood and Conzatti.
Conzatti told the Idaho Statesman that the Justice Department’s lawsuit reveals why the less-restrictive “heartbeat” law is important.
“The heartbeat law contains the medical emergency exception, in large part to avoid a legal challenge,” Conzatti said by email. “So the heartbeat law could act as a backstop if the trigger law is temporarily enjoined by a federal court while this lawsuit plays out.”
Idaho Democratic Party Chair Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, said Idaho’s “extreme abortion ban … endangers the lives of pregnant Idahoans and undermines the duty hospitals have to treat and stabilize sick patients.”
“Idaho’s Republican politicians would rather let a pregnancy kill a person than allow them to receive an abortion,” Necochea said in a news release. “From the Idaho Statehouse to the office of the U.S. Department of Justice, Democrats are fighting for access to reproductive health care.”
Gov. Brad Little in a statement said President Joe Biden’s administration is “overreaching yet again while he continues to ignore issues that really should demand his attention,” such as inflation.
“Here in Idaho, we are proud that we have led the country in protecting pre-born lives,” Little said. “I will continue to work with Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to vigorously uphold state sovereignty and defend Idaho’s laws in the face of federal meddling.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 1:11 PM.
