LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief (PDF) in U.S. v. Idaho to protect access to emergency abortion care in Idaho. The brief urges the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold the district court’s preliminary injunction blocking Idaho’s restrictive abortion ban, which does not include an exception for emergency abortion care. The coalition argues that preventing pregnant patients from receiving emergency abortion care not only violates federal law but can seriously harm patients’ health and overwhelm health care systems in Idaho and neighboring states. 

“When the Supreme Court proudly eviscerated the long-standing standard and precedent in Roe v. Wade, it opened the door nationally to horrific and extreme abortion bans such as the one Idaho has put in place,” said Nessel. “And the fallout from that decision includes cases like these, where states are forced to band together to fight abortion bans to preserve life-saving medical intervention and the rights of women across the country. Idaho’s draconian abortion law endangers the health and safety of expectant mothers and blatantly disregards federal safeguards that guarantee patients receive emergency care when they need it most. We must not let laws like this one create a risky precedent that threatens lives and overwhelms health care systems across state lines.” 

The federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals that operate an emergency department and participate in Medicare – virtually every hospital in the country – to treat all patients who have an emergency medical condition before discharging or transferring them. Idaho’s abortion ban does not include an exception for pregnancies that pose serious health risks. Attorney General Nessel and the coalition argue that several government agencies and courts have long determined that emergency abortion care and other pregnancy-related emergencies are covered under EMTALA. 

The amicus brief argues that allowing Idaho to override EMTALA’s protections for emergency abortion care can lead to pregnant patients dying or suffering irreversible injuries. The brief also notes that Idaho’s law could cause health care providers to leave the state, leading to worsened patient care and pregnant patients seeking care in other states, which can overwhelm their health care systems. In fact, within a few months of Idaho’s abortion ban going into effect, nearly one in four obstetricians left the state or retired. This past March, a multistate coalition of attorneys general filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in this case, urging the court to maintain the district court’s preliminary injunction. The court ultimately sent the case back to the Ninth Circuit with the district court’s stay intact. 

Joining Attorney General Nessel in filing yesterday's amicus brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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