The Trump administration will move to end a lawsuit against Idaho over the right of a pregnant woman to obtain an abortion in a medical emergency, reversing the Biden administration’s stance in the closely watched case.
In a court filing Tuesday, Idaho’s largest health system said the Justice Department informed its lawyers that the U.S. would like to dismiss the case, one day ahead of a key hearing.
Most observers anticipated the administration would drop the case, a significant but quiet first move on abortion.
Boise-based St. Luke’s health system had sued the state last month in anticipation of the Trump Justice Department dropping the Biden lawsuit. The health system on Tuesday was granted a temporary restraining order maintaining the status quo, keeping emergency abortions legal while the lawsuit is argued.
“Immediate relief is needed in light of the United States’ planned dismissal,” the health system wrote in the filing.
“Even a short period without an injunction would require Idaho hospitals to train their staff about the change in legal obligations, distracting them from providing medical care to their patients, and would once again require them to airlift patients out of state should a medical emergency arise so that those patients can consider the full spectrum of medically indicated care, including termination of pregnancy,” St. Luke’s wrote.
Idaho bans nearly all abortions except when “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” But there are no exceptions if the patient’s health or reproductive future is at risk from a catastrophic health consequence, like the loss of her uterus.
The Biden Justice Department argued Idaho’s law violated the nearly 40-year old Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires federally funded hospitals to provide stabilizing care to emergency room patients no matter their ability to pay.
The case was argued at the Supreme Court last year, but the justices sent it back to a lower court, saying they took it up too early.
The case was argued before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in December. The appeals court has not yet ruled.
The Biden administration invoked EMTALA in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The administration issued guidance saying state laws that are more restrictive are preempted by the federal statute, and hospitals must render stabilizing care, even if that care is an abortion.
The Trump administration has not indicated if it will revoke that guidance.
