Abortion Ban Doesn’t Conflict With Emergency Law, Idaho Says

A federal law that requires hospitals to provide emergency care or risk losing federal Medicare money doesn’t require Idaho facilities to perform abortions in violation of the state’s near-total ban, Idaho told a federal appeals court.

The state law can “peacefully coexist” with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act because it doesn’t prohibit emergency care providers from removing ectopic pregnancies or performing abortions when, in their good faith medical judgment, it’s necessary to prevent the pregnant person’s death, the state said Monday in its opening brief to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The state is ...