Reagan-era emergency health care law is the next abortion flashpoint at the Supreme Court

Two years after ending the national right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court will scrutinize one of the marquee efforts by the Biden administration to preserve abortion access in the post-Roe v. Wade era.

Two years after ending the national right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court will scrutinize one of the marquee efforts by the Biden administration to preserve abortion access in the post-Roe v. Wade era. In a case being heard by the court Wednesday, the Biden administration is challenging Idaho’s enforcement of its abortion ban in medical emergencies, putting a spotlight on what has been one of the most politically explosive flashpoints in the aftermath of Roe’s demise. The Justice Department maintains that federal law requires hospitals to offer abortions if necessary to stabilize the health of emergency room patients, even in states like Idaho that ban that procedure. At the time the lawsuit was filed, Attorney General Merrick Garland characterized the case as part of the department’s promise to “work tirelessly to protect and advance reproductive freedom” in the wake of Roe’s reversal. The lawsuit has proceeded somewhat under the radar and has been overshadowed by the other blockbuster abortion case at the Supreme Court this year, concerning the federal regulations for abortion pills. Yet, the Idaho case could yield the most significant ruling from the court on abortion since the 2022 Roe reversal and one that could further elevate an issue Democrats want front and center in the 2024 election this November. Idaho argues that the Biden administration is trying to retrofit the federal law known as EMTALA – or the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act – to “create a nationwide abortion mandate in hospital emergency rooms.” Idaho’s abortion law has a narrow exemption for abortions provided to save a pregnant woman’s life. However, the Justice Department argues that federal law overrides state abortion bans that prohibit emergency room doctors from offering the procedure to women whose pregnancies are causing medical emergencies that are not yet life-threatening.