Department Of Justice Sues State Of Idaho Over Its Near-Total Abortion Ban

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Idaho over its restrictions on abortion.

On Aug. 25, 2022, Idaho “will make it a felony to perform an abortion in all but extremely narrow circumstances,” said Joe Biden’s Justice department in a complaint against the state.

On Tuesday, Biden’s administration filed a lawsuit against Idaho over its near-total abortion ban.

“In the days since the Dobbs decision, there have been widespread reports of delays or denials to pregnant women experiencing medical emergencies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news conference Tuesday, CNN Politics reports. “We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that pregnant women get the medical care that they are entitled to.”

Back in 2020, Idaho passed a bill into law that would punish a woman with up to five years in prison for getting an abortion. The only exception to the law is if the mother’s health is at risk or if the pregnancy was connected to a case of rape or incest.

In its suit, the department says the law goes against the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires hospitals that receive Medicare funding to provide medical treatment necessary to stabilize that condition before transferring or discharging the patient.”

In the legal document, the department wrote: “The Idaho law would make it a criminal offense for doctors to comply with EMTALA’s requirement to provide stabilizing treatment, even where a doctor determines that abortion is the medical treatment necessary to prevent a patient from suffering severe health risks or even death.”

In a statement, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden claimed the department’s suit was “politically motivated.”