- Court Hears Arguments in Idaho Case on Abortions in Medical Emergencies
- Biden administration believes Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act preempts state abortion law in some cases
- Protesters for and against abortion rights gathered in front of the Supreme Court
Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday as justices hear a case about whether emergency rooms can provide abortions in medical emergencies in states where abortion is banned.
Large numbers of pro- and anti-abortion rights protesters gathered and made a scene before discussions began.
Some pro-abortion rights protesters carried signs saying “abortion is healthcare” and “abortion saves lives,” while others attacked the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Others dressed in white and covered in fake blood even participated in a ‘die-in’ in support of abortion access in emergency rooms.
Anti-abortion protesters held signs saying “emergency rooms are not abortion clinics.”
It is the first time the nation’s highest court will hear arguments on the scope of state abortion bans after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022 and returned the abortion issue to the states.
Pro-abortion rights protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday ahead of arguments over whether Idaho’s abortion ban conflicts with the federal EMTALA.
Pro-abortion activists participate in a ‘death’ in front of the Supreme Court
An anti-abortion activist stands outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the court hears arguments on Idaho’s law that bans abortion in almost all situations.
Oral arguments are underway in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States.
The Biden administration argues that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) can, in specific circumstances, supersede state law criminalizing abortion.
But Idaho rejects the argument, saying it is a federal power grab and that the law does not require doctors to provide specific medical treatments or hospitals to perform abortions.
This is the second abortion-related case the Supreme Court has heard in recent weeks after hearing arguments over the abortion drug mifepristone.
An anti-abortion activist with a sign before oral arguments on Idaho’s near-total abortion ban.
Protesters for and against abortion rights clash outside the Supreme Court ahead of Wednesday’s arguments.
Abortion rights activist stands in front of the Supreme Court Wednesday morning.
A group of doctors joins abortion rights activists who participated in a ‘die-in’ outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments in Idaho v. United States.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe with the Dobbs decision in 2022 that ended the constitutional right to abortion, Idaho was one of more than a dozen states that acted immediately to ban abortion with limited exceptions.
Idaho law makes it a crime to perform an abortion except in very specific circumstances, such as saving the life of the mother, rape or incest. The State’s exception focuses on the life but not on the “health” of the mother.
The case in question began almost two years ago when the Biden administration filed a lawsuit. He argued that EMTALA could be used in some limited cases in the state because it requires emergency rooms to provide “necessary stabilizing treatment.”
A district court agreed and blocked the Idaho law from taking effect in August 2022 to the extent the ban conflicted with EMTALA.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the state’s request to stay the district court’s ruling while the appeal proceeded.
The state and its Republican-controlled legislature then took the case to the Supreme Court.