Idaho's abortion ban upheld: U.S. Appeals Court rejects EMTALA challenge

A U.S. appeals court has ruled that Idaho can fully enforce its ban on abortion, stating that a provision in the state’s law related to medical emergencies does not conflict with the federal 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

EMTALA requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to indigent patients. The decision is seen as a setback for the Biden administration’s strategy of using EMTALA to challenge state abortion bans across the country.

Idaho’s law, Section 622, was designed to take effect following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and includes exceptions for cases where the mother’s life is at risk or in instances of rape or incest reported to the police.

The court ruled that EMTALA does not impose specific standards of care, such as abortion, on medical professionals and that the purpose of EMTALA is to protect the health of the woman and her unborn child. This decision may indicate a shift away from the Biden administration’s reliance on the EMTALA strategy to promote pro-abortion policies in the future.

The National Catholic Register writes:

Idaho can now fully enforce its ban on abortion after a U.S. appeals court ruled last week that a provision in the state’s law related to medical emergencies does not conflict with a federal law, the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to indigent patients.

This latest loss in court for the Biden administration could lead it to abandon the strategy — once a centerpiece of the administration’s response to pro-life laws — of attempting to use EMTALA to strike down state abortion bans across the country, one legal expert told CNA.

Idaho’s law, Section 622, was designed to take effect Aug. 25, 2022, following the June 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. Idaho was one of more than a dozen states to have passed “trigger laws” intended to outlaw abortion as soon as the federal right to abortion that Roe established was struck down.

However, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Aug. 2, 2022, against Idaho seeking to block the law, arguing that it conflicts with EMTALA, a law that requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to a person experiencing a medical emergency, regardless of the person’s ability to pay.