Supreme Court allows emergency abortions in Idaho for now

[Pelican Press 0]

Supreme Court allows emergency abortions in Idaho for now

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday sidestepped a ruling on whether Idaho’s strict ********* law conflicts with a federal law that requires stabilizing care for emergency room patients, including pregnant women suffering complications who may require abortions.

The court dismissed an appeal brought by Idaho officials, meaning a lower court ruling that allows doctors in the state to perform abortions in emergency situations ******** in effect for now.

The decision, which leaves the legal question unresolved and has no impact in any other state, was widely expected after the Supreme Court on Wednesday 

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 a copy online.

The court could take up the issue in a later case.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the Justice Department will continue to push its interpretation of the federal law in the ongoing litigation.

“Today’s order means that, while we continue to litigate our case, women in Idaho will once again have access to the emergency care guaranteed to them under federal law,” he said.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who objected to the court failing to decide the case, read her dissenting opinion from the bench, a step justices generally only take when they are particularly disgruntled with the outcome.

“There is simply no good reason not to resolve this conflict now,” she wrote.

************* Justice Samuel Alito agreed on that point in a dissenting opinion joined by Justice Clarence Thomas and, mostly, Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Alito indicated he would rule against the Biden administration, which argues that federal law requires abortions when a woman is suffering from various health complications that are not necessarily immediately life-threatening, notwithstanding Idaho’s strict ban.

“Here, no one who has any respect for statutory language can plausibly say that the government’s interpretation is unambiguously correct,” he wrote.

A five-justice bloc of ************* and ******** justices, however, voted against deciding the case.

************* Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that the “shape of these cases has substantially shifted” since the court agreed to hear the two linked appeals from the state and elected officials.

******** Justice Elena Kagan said Idaho’s arguments “have never justified … our early consideration of this dispute.”

The legal question is of importance not just in Idaho, but also in other states that have enacted similar bans that *********-rights advocates say clash with the federal law because they do not include broad exceptions for the health of the mother.

But the court’s ******** to issue a ruling means confusion ******** on whether the federal law trumps the state bans. In Idaho, the state’s appeal of the lower court ruling will continue.

The litigation could get even more complicated if former President Donald Trump wins the election, as his administration could change its legal position and argue that the federal law does not conflict with state ********* laws.

The federal government said a handful of states would be affected if the court had issued a full ruling, while ********* opponents said a win for the Biden administration would potentially affect up to 22 states that have imposed ********* restrictions.

The Idaho ********* ban was enacted in 2020, with a provision stating it would go into effect if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that found women had a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.

The legislation, known as the Defense of Life Act, 

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 in 2022 when the Supreme Court 

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 Roe.

Idaho’s law says anyone who performs an ********* is subject to ********* penalties, including up to five years in prison. Health care professionals found to have violated the law can lose their professional licenses.

The federal government sued, leading a federal judge in August 2022 to block the state from enforcing provisions concerning medical care that is required under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA.

That 1986 law mandates that patients receive appropriate emergency room care. The Biden administration argued that care should include abortions in certain situations when a woman’s health is imperiled even if ****** is not imminent.

The government and ********* rights groups cited as examples women whose water breaks early in a pregnancy, putting them at risk of sepsis or hemorrhage.

The federal law applies to health care providers that receive federal funding under the Medicare program.

The Idaho law includes an exception if an ********* is necessary to protect the life of the pregnant woman, although the scope of the exception was heavily contested in the litigation.

The Supreme Court in January 

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 Idaho to enforce the provisions while agreeing to hear ***** arguments in the case. Other provisions of the ban are already in effect and are not affected by the court’s latest decision.

In blocking parts of the state law that conflict with federal law, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill described the state’s actions as putting doctors “on the horns of a dilemma.”

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, briefly put Winmill’s ruling on hold in September, but it subsequently allowed it to go back into effect, prompting the state officials to turn to the Supreme Court.

The emergency room dispute is one of two ********* cases the Supreme Court considered this term, both of which arose in the aftermath of the 2022 decision to overturn Roe. In the other, 

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 a challenge by anti-********* doctors to the Food and ***** Administration’s lifting of restrictions on mifepristone, the ***** most commonly used for medication abortions.

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Health care industry,Reproductive rights,********* controversy,*********,Politics,Breaking News: Politics,Civil rights violations,Government and politics,Social issues,business news
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