The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) filed an amicus brief last week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a mandate by the Biden administration that could force emergency room doctors to commit abortions.
In August 2022, the Department of Justice sued the state of Idaho, saying its Defense of Life Act, which protects preborn children from abortion, violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). The DOJ claims that EMTALA requires emergency rooms to commit abortions which are illegal under Idaho law. Despite this claim, as Alliance Defending Freedom reports, “[T]here is no conflict between EMTALA and Idaho’s law as both seek to save lives and neither requires abortions to be performed.”
“Idaho’s law is perfectly consistent with EMTALA, which provides explicit protections for ‘unborn children’ in four separate places,” explained Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador. “The notion that EMTALA requires doctors to perform abortions is absurd. We are asking the Supreme Court to end the administration’s unlawful overreach and to respect the people of Idaho’s decision to protect life.”
The case of whether or not the DOJ mandate is constitutional is currently being heard by SCOTUS. In its amicus brief, NRLC emphasized its support for Idaho’s Defense of Life Act, while arguing that EMTALA was “only meant to protect emergency room patients from being dumped and does not mandate that the hospital provide medical care that is contrary to state law.”
“Biden’s abortion mandate has no basis in law. The federal law regulating emergency rooms was done to protect patients, not to create a right to abortion on demand,” said James Bopp, Jr., general counsel for NRLC and lead counsel on NRLC’s brief. “Biden’s abortion mandate guts the ability for states like Idaho to protect unborn life by mandating abortion on demand in emergency rooms. The High Court needs to reject Biden’s abortion mandate.”
“The Biden Administration is using EMTALA as a cudgel to force pro-life states into providing abortions,” added Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “This is just another example of how this administration is doing everything in its power to appease pro-abortion groups by promoting unlimited abortions.”
