The US Supreme Court has heard its first test case of the state abortion bans that have been enacted since the court’s 2022 ruling that overturned its own 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had supported national abortion laws for nearly half a century.
The current case involves an Idaho abortion law, but the ruling could have implications for the entire country. The nine justices must decide whether Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion has precedence over a federal law that requires doctors to provide patients with medical care in emergency situations. Reuters reports that care could include an abortion.
Forensic questioning by the justices during oral arguments indicated they have yet to reach a consensus. Attorneys for both sides warned that the ruling could affect women and doctors far beyond Idaho. They said it could also change how hospital emergency departments treat patients nationwide.
Idaho’s law was first passed in 2020, and triggered into effect in 2022 following the reversal of Roe v Wade. It prohibits abortions in all circumstances unless the procedure is needed to prevent a woman’s death. Doctors who violate the law face 2-5 years in prison and the loss of their medical licence.
The Supreme Court must decide whether that law takes precedence over the provisions of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act ( EMTALA ). They require that hospitals covered by the federal Medicare program must “stabilise” patients with emergency medical conditions. Hospitals could be sued by patients who do not receive the care they need which the Biden administration asserts includes abortions.
The Associated Press reports: “How the court will rule is uncertain. The justices could make a major ruling — or they could rule narrowly on how Idaho’s state law interacts with EMTALA. The court had earlier allowed Idaho’s abortion ban to be fully enforced while litigation continues. That means at least five members of the court voted to put on hold a lower court’s ruling that the federal law overrides Idaho’s abortion ban in medical emergencies. So the Biden administration was facing a tough road in persuading the court to uphold that ruling.”
Idaho’s attorney noted: “There are 22 states with abortion laws on the books. This isn’t going to end with Idaho. This question is going to come up in state after state.”
