The Department of Justice dismissed a Biden-era lawsuit challenging Idaho’s strict abortion ban on Wednesday. St Luke’s, the state’s largest health care provider, anticipated the dismissal and brought its own, similar suit against Idaho’s Attorney General.
The original lawsuit argued Idaho’s law conflicts with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), requiring hospitals receiving federal funding provide stabilizing care, which can include abortions. Idaho’s ban only allows abortions in narrow cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger.
On Wednesday, shortly after the Trump administration moved to drop the federal suit, U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill heard arguments in St. Luke’s case. The plaintiffs asked the judge to block the ban from applying to emergency situations while the case continues to make its way through the courts.
The injunction would replace the one vacated by the DOJ dismissing the original lawsuit.
Winmill issued a temporary restraining order preventing the ban from applying to emergency situations on Tuesday. It will remain in place while the judge considers the injunction request. He is expected to make a ruling within the next two weeks.
Speaking outside the courthouse following the proceedings, St. Luke’s counsel Peg Dougherty said the medical provider wants emergency doctors to be able to stabilize pregnant patients.
“We want them to receive the emergency care that is available to anyone who presents to an emergency room. That is our goal,” she said.
During the hearing, the state’s defense said the abortion ban does not conflict with the federal mandate, and argued EMTALA only requires hospitals to screen and stabilize patients. It cannot, they said, dictate standards of medical care and treatments beyond that.
Dr. Kathleen Keating, an OBGYN at a clinic affiliated with St Luke’s, attended the hearing in support of the plaintiffs. She pushed back against the state’s arguments, saying stabilizing patients was not black and white.
“That's not what we see as physicians. We see the impermanence of stability,” she said, explaining health as a gradient. A pregnant woman’s condition can change quickly, Keating added.
“People can go from very, very stable to life threatening, running down the hall, this person is possibly going to die, even if I do intervene.”Dr. Kathleen Keating
“I do not think it should be my job in the middle of the night to figure out which law supersedes the other,” said OBGYN Anne Feighner, who also attended the hearing and works for a St. Luke’s affiliate. “That all takes time away from what we should be doing, which is caring for patients.”
Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office declined to comment on the pending case, but in an earlier release commented on the dismissal of the federal lawsuit.
“We are grateful that meddlesome DOJ litigation on this issue will no longer be an obstacle to Idaho enforcing its laws,” he wrote. “Idaho will continue defending life as intended by the legislature and our people.”
