It was the U.S. Justice Department sued Idaho on August. 2 claiming that the state’s rigid new abortion law infringes the federal law that guarantees women’s rights to seek abortions in the event of health emergencies.
This is the first attempt from Biden administration Biden administration to uphold the state’s trigger laws since it was the time that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wadein late June. It occurred on the same day that voters in Kansas resoundingly rejected a ballot measure that would have given the state’s Republican-controlled legislature the power to place restrictions on abortion or ban it outright.
Both developments could be the start of a campaign to counter the new laws that restrict abortion in states.
It is the Idaho trigger laws, that goes into the force on the month of August. 25, entitles doctors to arrest and punishment for performing abortions, regardless of whether the patient has medical emergencies. This law allows abortions that save the mother’s life, and it also allows abortions to the victims of rape or incest however, these women must submit a police report to their physician.
The suit is seeking an injunction that will stop legal enforcement when abortions are required for medical emergencies.
“Physicians faced with the threat of being prosecuted criminally for having an abortion in the emergency situation may hesitate to undergo the procedure, even if their medical expertise will lead them to believe that abortion is needed,” DOJ wrote in the complaint. “The delay in obtaining that procedure could cause irreparable injury to the health and wellbeing of the pregnant woman in certain instances, and for others, could cause the death of a patient.”
Do ER Doctors be prosecuted or Are they adequately protected?
In July in July, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a directive for abortions to make sure they can continue to be offered in emergencies at hospitals receiving Medicare financing. Then, a few days later Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in which he claimed it would “force abortions” within Texas.
The central question in the DOJ as well as the Texas lawsuits is the same: What’s the legal nature of federal law’s ability to safeguard emergency room doctors when they make the decision to terminate abortions during emergency situations?
The Idaho law allows the law enforcement agencies to investigate and charge doctors who carry out abortions regardless of circumstances. The doctors are expected to argue their cases through proving there is a narrow exception of the law is applied.
The Justice Department says that the Idaho law contradicts the Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act that requires emergency departments to be able to treat patients regardless the ability of patients to pay. DOJ states that the law of the Federal Court is superior over state law in these instances in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.
The Idaho Response to Stop the Federal Meddling’
Idaho Governor. Brad Little, however, states that the state can decide on its own. The attorney responded in a statement, in which he pledged to “vigorously protect the sovereignty of Idaho and protect its statutes in the event of federal intervention.”
Do you think that the DOJ launch further lawsuits? The jury is still out however, the issue of law of the Idaho matter — whether it is a state or federal law that determines the moment when a physician decides abortion is appropriate during a medical emergencyis also a concern in states that have restrictive legislation on abortion.
The situation is that the ER physicians in the states mentioned above are in uncomfortable situations. They require some answers. If the law of the United States prevails then they’ll know the law. If not, they can try to avoid criminal prosecution in the absence of the care they used to provide.
The courts will make the final decision.
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Idaho’s new law against abortion prohibits abortion doctors from performing the procedure regardless of whether they believe that it is necessary during the event of a medical emergency. It’s been reported that the U.S. Justice Department has launched a legal action claiming that the law is in breach of the federal law.