Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June not to rule in the Idaho case about whether emergency room abortions can be prosecuted under the state’s abortion law, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing for the week of Dec. 9 to hear oral arguments in the next step of the case.
The lawsuit traces back to 2022, when the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Idaho over its strict abortion ban that provides an exception to save a patient’s life, but not to preserve their health, because the government argued the ban conflicts with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstates ability to perform emergency abortions in Idaho under ban
Also known as EMTALA, the federal law prohibits hospitals from refusing to help patients that seek emergency treatment if they are unable to pay for the services. Without a health exception written into the law, a pregnant patient facing organ loss, paralysis or loss of fertility may not be able to obtain an abortion in an emergency room because the doctor providing treatment could be subject to criminal prosecution or loss of their medical license under the ban.
Under the ban and without a court order blocking it from being enforced against emergency room physicians, Idaho doctors have sent pregnant patients needing stabilizing treatment to out-of-state clinics where abortion is accessible, States Newsroom reported. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June, the injunction went back into place and will remain at least until the appeals court hearing in December.
The hearing will take place in Pasadena, California. The exact date and time will be determined at a later date, according to court documents.
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