The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case that could have significant implications for pregnant patients and their health care providers across the United States. At issue is Idaho’s near-total abortion ban, which makes it a crime for the state’s physicians to terminate a pregnancy, even when necessary to protect the mother’s health.
This conflict arises because of the ban’s narrow exceptions for emergency abortion care. As a result, pregnant patients in Idaho may face imminent risks to their reproductive organs or other severe health consequences, yet physicians may still be prohibited from performing abortion procedures to save them unless they are on the brink of death.
In contrast, the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals that participate in Medicare to provide stabilizing care when a patient’s health is in serious jeopardy. For pregnant patients, this care may include abortion procedures to prevent loss of reproductive organs, permanent disability, severe pain, mental health consequences, and other dire outcomes.
Before Idaho’s law took effect, a federal district court in the state ruled that EMTALA and the Idaho law conflict. When a pregnant patient needs an abortion to stabilize a health emergency, federal law requires doctors to provide that care, even if state law prohibits it. However, the Supreme Court granted a stay, allowing Idaho’s law to take effect despite the conflict with EMTALA, without offering an explanation for its reasoning.
In the months since the Court’s stay, health care providers in Idaho have witnessed the devastating consequences of being unable to provide the standard of care for pregnant patients facing emergency situations. St. Luke’s Health System, the largest private employer in Idaho, reports a surge in transfers of pregnant patients with medical emergencies out of state for abortion procedures. This dramatic increase in transfers demonstrates the harm caused by the narrow definition of stabilizing care under the Idaho law.
The data from St. Luke’s proves that abortion care is still happening, but it is now more expensive, time-consuming, and painful for women. Denying abortion care does not save fetal lives or protect maternal health; it only makes emergency care more complex and hazardous.
The Supreme Court justices have an opportunity to rectify their earlier error and uphold the federal law protecting pregnant patients’ health. Allowing the Idaho abortion statute to go into effect has resulted in demonstrable harm and impeded doctors from providing the care they are trained to deliver. The Court has the data to understand the consequences of their decision and the power to prevent further suffering.
