Female Supreme Court justices push back most strongly on Idaho abortion ban
by Nathaniel Weixel - 04/24/24 1:08 PM ET
A divided Supreme Court seemed skeptical that Idaho’s strict abortion ban conflicts with a federal emergency care law, but there appeared to be a split by gender as well as ideology during the nearly two hours of argument.
The four female justices, including conservative Amy Coney Barrett, pushed back the hardest against Idaho’s assertion that its law, which prohibits doctors from performing an abortion except when a woman’s life is in danger, supersedes the federal emergency care statute EMTALA.
Doctors face up to five years in prison for violating Idaho’s law.
The case centers on a federal law known as EMTALA, or the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which requires federally funded hospitals to provide stabilizing care to emergency room patients no matter their ability to pay.
The justices are weighing an appeal brought by Idaho officials who are contesting a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration. The Biden administration sued Idaho over its abortion ban just weeks after the Dobbs ruling.
The Biden administration argues that even in states where abortion is banned, EMTALA says hospitals must be allowed to terminate pregnancies in rare emergencies where a patient’s life or health is at serious risk.
Idaho argued the administration is trying to use the law to create a national abortion mandate for hospitals. They said federal law doesn’t dictate the kind of care people receive, only that they are stabilized.
The case marked the second time in as many months the Supreme Court has heard an abortion argument after ostensibly returning the issue to the states, and the case represents the latest legal challenge that could reshape access to abortion across the country.
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https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4618282-female-supreme-court-justices-push-back-most-strongly-on-idaho-abortion-ban/
