Idaho’s largest health system is suing Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador in federal court, seeking to expand court protections that have allowed emergency abortions despite a near-total ban on the abortion by the state.
St. Luke’s Health System filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Idaho.
The Biden administration, in a lawsuit filed in 2022, alleges that Idaho’s abortion ban violated federal law requiring hospitals to provide stabilizing medical care to patients in emergency situations. But the coming change in the federal administration could, St. Luke’s said in a news release Tuesday, mean the federal government could seek to overturn an injunction allowing emergency abortions and dismiss its lawsuit.
St. Luke’s Legal Director Christine Neuhoff said in a statement that the health system — Idaho’s largest provider of obstetric and emergency care — filed a new lawsuit “to defend our patients and their families who are directly affected by this situation. conflict between state law and federal law.
In response to Biden administration’s lawsuit, Idaho federal judge in 2022 temporarily blocked Idaho’s abortion ban as it relates to federal law requiring hospitals to provide stabilization care in emergencies, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA.
The United States Supreme Court survey this injunction for several months, before the Supreme Court reinstated that in June. The Supreme Court made the case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
When federal protections for emergency abortions expired, out-of-state air transports for pregnancy complications at St. Luke’s have increased from one, in all of 2023, to six in the first four months of 2024, the States Newsroom reported. St. Luke’s spokeswoman Christine Myron told The Sun on Wednesday that since June 27, 2024, since the injunction was in effect, pregnant patients seeking treatment for emergency medical issues in its wards “received the full extent of stabilization care, including termination of pregnancy if medically necessary.”
“St. Luke’s doctors have not had to transfer patients to another state to receive this stabilizing care,” she said.
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In its lawsuit, St. Luke’s asked a federal judge to issue a declaratory judgment saying the Idaho law is in part preempted by the federal EMTALA law, and the health system is seeking an order permanently enjoining the law of Idaho as it conflicts with EMTALA.
“Our doctors are dedicated to helping families bring their children into the world with safe, evidence-based care,” Dr. Jim Souza, St. Luke’s chief medical officer, said in a statement. “Yet the conflict between the Idaho Defense of Life Act and EMTALA makes it impossible to provide the highest quality care in some of the most heartbreaking situations. »
Labrador, in a statement to the Idaho Capital Sun, said there was no conflict between “the clear interpretation of Idaho’s defense of life law,” the law prohibiting state abortion, and EMTALA.
“The United States Supreme Court has already ruled that the Constitution does not contain a right to abortion and that laws protecting the sanctity of life are left to the discretion of each state,” Labrador said in a statement. “There is no conflict between the clear interpretation of the Idaho Defense of Life Act and EMTALA. Idaho law protects both the life of the mother and her unborn child. Any perceived conflict has been perpetuated by politicians, organizations, and individuals seeking to confuse physicians and endanger patient health for political purposes.
A Planned Parenthood-affiliated leader covering Idaho called St. Luke’s lawsuit a “milestone.”
“These legal filings underscore the urgent need to protect access to emergency medical care and ensure that no Idahoan is denied health or life-saving treatment,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky. a declaration. “We commend St. Luke’s for its leadership in defending bodily autonomy and the right to make personal health care decisions without political interference.
St. Luke’s, in its press release, said it would continue to advocate for the addition of a health exception to abortion bans in Idaho.
Laws banning abortion in Idaho appear set to remain unchanged by state lawmakers this year, as lawmakers await the results of lawsuits challenging the bans, Gov. Brad Little told reporters earlier this month.
President-elect Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. Little told reporters this month that “some of these disputes will survive” the change in administration but may be handled differently by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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