Idaho Urges Court to Reject US’ Emergency Law Preemption Claim

Idaho’s near-total abortion ban doesn’t conflict with a federal emergency care law to the extent it would prohibit an abortion required to stabilize a pregnant patient’s nonfatal medical condition, the state told a federal court.

The federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act doesn’t include an “abortion mandate” that preempts Idaho’s criminalization of non-lifesaving abortions, Idaho said in a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Sept. 13. The state’s abortion restrictions didn’t stand as an obstacle to EMTALA’s purpose of ensuring that hospitals provide emergency services to patients who’re unable to pay, it said. ...