Legal battle over abortions in emergency rooms continues
The Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit against Idaho, which had sought to enforce its abortion ban that conflicted with a federal law mandating universal standard of care in ERs.
The federal lawsuit against Idaho over whether abortion should be allowed in emergency rooms has been dropped, leaving many women in precarious situations as the ban could take full effect.
The case, called initially Moyle v. United States, centered on whether an Idaho abortion ban conflicts with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. This federal law ensures universal standards of care within emergency rooms. The case was returned to a lower court without the Supreme Court ruling on its merits. The case was reheard in December by the Ninth Circuit.
Moyle refers to Mike Moyle, the majority leader in Idaho’s legislature. The case later became known as United States of America v. Idaho. The Department of Justice filed a stipulation of dismissal on Wednesday.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, St. Luke’s Hospital, Idaho’s most extensive hospital system, received an email on Wednesday informing them of the Justice Department’s intent to dismiss the case.
The dismissal of the DOJ's case will also lift the preliminary injunction protecting doctors’ and hospitals’ ability to provide emergency care in Idaho. St. Luke’s Hospital leaders anticipated the move, so they filed a lawsuit in January to challenge Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador from enforcing the law on emergency providers. U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday and heard arguments on the case on Wednesday. According to Boise State Public Radio, Winmill should decide within the next two weeks whether an injunction should remain in place permanently.
The Biden Administration challenged the law in August 2022 to Idaho’s abortion ban, arguing that EMTALA — a nearly 40-year-old federal statute that requires hospitals that receive Medicare funds to provide emergency stabilizing treatment to any patient who needs it — prevented Idaho from enforcing its abortion ban to prohibit emergency abortions.
Because of the Department’s challenge, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction blocking Idaho from jailing doctors who provided pregnant patients with emergency care. The Supreme Court subsequently lifted that injunction in January 2024 and restored it in June 2024.
Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that while the injunction was not in effect for six months, hospitals were forced to either airlift their patients out of state or wait for their conditions to worsen before doctors could step in to provide critical care and save their patients’ health and lives.
“The Trump administration has made clear they would let women die rather than get an abortion,” Shifeling said.
“The goal of each is to save lives in every circumstance, both the mother and their unborn child,” Labrador said. “We are grateful that meddlesome DOJ litigation on this issue will no longer be an obstacle to Idaho enforcing its laws. Idaho will continue defending life as intended by the legislature and our people.”