US Drops Case Over Idaho Abortion Ban-Emergency Law Conflict (1)

The US, Idaho, and state lawmakers on Wednesday agreed to dismiss a lawsuit over whether the state can prohibit health-care providers from performing abortions when necessary to treat an emergency medical condition.

This the first action in a lawsuit concerning abortion taken by the federal government since President Donald Trump took office, according to reproductive rights advocates. It shuts down long-drawn out litigation in the US District Court for the District of Idaho over whether the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act preempts Idaho’s abortion law to the extent the latter would allow the state to prosecute doctors for performing abortions to stabilize emergency medical conditions.

Court approval wasn’t required because the US’ voluntary dismissal automatically terminated the action, the stipulation said.

Congress enacted the federal law to stop a practice known as “patient dumping,” which occurs when a hospital turns away a patient with an emergency medical condition before screening or stabilization because the patient is unable to pay. The law threatens noncompliant hospitals with the loss of federal funding, including Medicare.

The US Department of Health and Human Services issued a guidance document following the US Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, reminding hospitals that they were still bound by the federal law if their states outlawed abortion. Idaho was one of those states, adopting a provision that could be interpreted as making even emergency abortion care illegal.

Then-Secretary Xavier Becerra sued the state, arguing that the abortion law’s provision irreconcilably conflicted with hospitals’ obligations under the federal emergency care statute. Judge B. Lynn Winmill blocked Idaho from enforcing the measure in these circumstances pending trial, and the state appealed.

After a look by the US Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in December 2024.

Trump’s Justice Department told Winmill on Tuesday that it intended to dismiss the action. The stipulation automatically dissolved the preliminary injunction, the stipulation said.

Winmill, in a companion case, barred the state late Tuesday from prosecuting doctors for performing abortions to treat emergency medical conditions. St. Luke’s Health System sued Idaho in January in order to preserve the emergency law question in the event the US dismissed the earlier case.

The Idaho Attorney General’s Office represents the state. Morris Bower & Haws PLLC represents the lawmakers.

The case is United States v. Idaho, D. Idaho, No. 22-cv-329, 3/5/25.