Judge blocks enforcement of Idaho's abortion ban in medical emergencies day before it was set to take effect
CNN
A US district court on Wednesday evening granted a Biden administration request, temporarily blocking Idaho's ban on abortion in situations where the ban conflicts with federal standards for emergency care.
"This Court is not grappling with" the larger questions about a right to an abortion, US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill wrote in handing down a preliminary injunction. "Rather, the Court is called upon to address a far more modest issue — whether Idaho's criminal abortion statute conflicts with a small but important corner of federal legislation. It does."
The Biden administration had challenged parts of Idaho's abortion ban, which was set to take effect on Thursday, under a law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act or EMTALA, which establishes emergency care requirements for certain health care providers. Winmill said Wednesday that the Justice Department was likely to succeed in its argument that Idaho's abortion ban criminalized abortion care that physicians are obligated to offer in medical emergencies under EMTALA.
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