Supreme Court upholds Idaho abortion ban

Provisionally, the state will penalize doctors who perform the procedure under any circumstance, except when the mother's life is at risk.

Manifestantes reclaman la prohibición del aborto. — (Unsplash)

Published by

Verónica Silveri Pazos

6 de enero, 2024

Topics:

Abortion

The Supreme Court has provisionally ruled in favor of enforcing a law that prohibits abortion almost entirely in Idaho. With this decision, doctors who perform the procedure under any circumstance will be penalized, except when the mother's life is at risk.

The judges will hear arguments in April and a final ruling is expected in June of this year. Meanwhile, the provisions of the ban will be applied:

The applications for stay presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court are granted. The preliminary injunction issued on August 24, 2022 by the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, case No. 1:22-cv-00329, is stayed (...) The Clerk is directed to establish a briefing schedule that will allow the case to be argued in the April 2024 argument session.

Supreme Court by Veronica Silveri on Scribd

The ongoing legal battle

This time, the judges blocked a lower court ruling that blocked the "Idaho Defense of Life Law." The block had been placed in the middle of a legal battle (after the annulment of Roe vs Wade) based on a lawsuit filed by the Biden Administration (from August 2022) which alleged that the application of the rule violated the Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and the state hospital emergency department of Idaho.

The Biden Administration argues that the law ( EMTALA) requires doctors and clinics to perform abortions on patients who arrive in an emergency situation (even if abortion is prohibited in the state). However, the rule (which has been enforced for more than 30 years) is a refuge or financial aid for patients who arrive at medical centers due to an emergency and who do not have money to pay for medical care (without making specifications about the cases of emergency abortion).