Federal judge blocks part of Idaho abortion ban in Department of Justice lawsuit
A federal judge on Wednesday granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to temporarily block Idaho from enforcing its abortion ban in emergency situations.
The Justice Department this month petitioned the U.S. District Court in Idaho for a preliminary injunction on the state’s near-total ban on abortion, saying it conflicts with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The Idaho law makes it a felony for physicians to provide an abortion, unless the physician can prove in court that the pregnancy put the pregnant person’s life at risk or was a result of incest or rape.
But under the federal emergency treatment law, “emergency medical conditions” include not just life-threatening conditions, but also conditions that seriously jeopardize a patient’s health. The injunction applies to Medicare-funded hospitals.
[Related: Here’s where Idaho’s abortion laws stand today.]
A physician “may conclude that the only way to prevent serious harm to the patient or save her life is to terminate the pregnancy,” wrote U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, in a court order published Wednesday.
“So the job is difficult enough as it is,” he wrote. But once Idaho’s trigger law goes into effect, “the physician may well find herself facing the impossible task of attempting to simultaneously comply with both federal and state law.”
Per Winmill’s order, the state may not prosecute a medical provider for conducting an abortion that is necessary to avoid:
- Placing the health of a pregnant patient in serious jeopardy;
- A serious impairment to bodily functions of the pregnant patient; or
- A serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.
The preliminary injunction comes the day before Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion takes affect. On Thursday, most abortions will be illegal in Idaho, including procedures offered by non-emergency medical providers, such as health care clinics.
Blaine Conzatti, head of the Idaho Family Policy Center, which helped craft the anti-abortion legislation, said activists will “keep pushing” until all abortion is illegal.
Idaho House Republican leaders in a statement said the Legislature “will pursue all legal means” to end the injunction as quickly as possible.
“Idahoans have a strong, shared concern for and high value on the life of Idaho’s pre-born children,” they said. “The death of even one pre-born child in these circumstances is a tragedy, yet such deaths are the purpose and consequence of the current federal administration’s case against Idaho and the Idaho law.”
Federal judge rules differently in Texas case
In a similar case playing out in Texas, a federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the treatment act “is silent as to abortion,” and therefore, does not conflict with a Texas law prohibiting the procedure, The Dallas Morning News reported.
On Wednesday, Idaho Deputy Attorney General Brian Church filed a motion referencing the Texas decision. State attorneys haven’t had an opportunity to consider how the Texas ruling “should be persuasive in aspects of this current lawsuit, or in the pending preliminary injunction motion,” Church wrote.
But Idaho Democrats celebrated Winmill’s decision Wednesday.
“There is not a single Republican on the ballot this November who has stood up for our reproductive freedoms,” Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea said. “We must vote these dangerous, extreme politicians out of office before their cruel quest for control kills Idahoans.”
The Justice Department requested the preliminary injunction on Aug. 8. Meanwhile, the federal court for Idaho will continue to consider whether the state’s abortion ban meets constitutional muster.
The Justice Department’s primary complaint, filed Aug. 2, asked the court to permanently enjoin the abortion ban and declare it unconstitutional, to the extent it conflicts with the federal treatment act. The U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause says federal law takes precedence over state law.
Judgments have yet to be made on those requests, and the preliminary injunction will be in effect until the case is completed.
Winmill wrote Wednesday that the Justice Department “will likely succeed on the merits” of its case.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement Wednesday night disputing the Texas decision and supporting the Idaho injunction. Garland said the temporary order ensures that women “can obtain the emergency medical treatment to which they are entitled under federal law. This includes abortion when that is the necessary treatment.”
“The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool at its disposal to defend the reproductive rights protected by federal law,” he said.
Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, in a statement said Wednesday’s decision is “far from the end” of the fight for abortion access in Idaho.
“The damage these laws have done to the rights of Idahoans reaches far beyond those in medical emergencies,” Gibron said. “All people deserve access to abortion care: period.”
Reporter Ian Max Stevenson contributed.
This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Federal judge blocks part of Idaho abortion ban in Department of Justice lawsuit."
