Idaho fought in a federal appeals court today for its abortion ban that protects the lives of unborn children.
The attorney general’s office and Alliance Defending Freedom filed a reply brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in United States of America v. State of Idaho.
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In the case, the Biden-Harris administration is attempting to use federal law to force emergency room doctors to perform abortions that are illegal under Idaho’s Defense of Life Act.
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador commented on the brief in remarks to LifeNews:
“The Biden-Harris administration’s radical interpretation of federal law shows a lawless disregard for Idaho’s right to protect life. Idaho’s Defense of Life Act is perfectly consistent with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which requires doctors to care both for women and their ‘unborn children.’ At the U.S. Supreme Court and in the 9th Circuit, the administration has repeated St. Luke’s hospital’s unsubstantiated claim that Idaho’s law required women to be emergency airlifted from our state to obtain an abortion. But when questioned under oath, St. Luke’s admitted it did not know why the women were transferred. In fact, one of the women airlifted out of state gave birth to healthy twins from ‘very much a wanted pregnancy.’ Idaho’s law expects doctors to save women’s lives.”
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch also commented on the case:
“Both Idaho’s law and EMTALA seek to protect the lives of women and their unborn children, and the consistency between those laws makes us confident about the future of this case. Moreover, the government’s claim that it can use its spending power to override any state law it doesn’t like is breathtaking. It’s also wrong. The Biden-Harris administration can’t pay private hospitals to violate state law. Under Idaho’s law, doctors will continue to provide care to women experiencing ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, and life-threatening conditions. We join Idaho in urging the court to end the administration’s unlawful overreach and protect the people’s freedom to preserve life.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court sent Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments on the case.
The opinion is what is known as a DIG, which is “dismissed as improvidently granted.” The High Court is not taking either side but saying that the case should have been allowed to proceed further below before the Supreme Court decided to address the issue.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “This order means that the case returns to the Ninth Circuit, which had ordered that the appeal of the preliminary injunction be decided by the full court on an expedited basis without any further briefing. The abortion ban currently remains in place in Idaho, except for those in emergency room situations.”
