In August 2022, the U.S. sued Idaho, challenging its abortion ban. Idaho criminalizes virtually all abortions except to save the life of the mother. It does not provide an exception to protect the pregnant person’s health.

But EMTALA requires emergency care in order to prevent serious harm to the individual’s health – not just to prevent death.

The U.S. argued that Idaho’s law “directly conflicts with” EMTALA. Idaho argued that EMTALA effectively required all states to provide abortions, even if the procedures conflict with state law. The district court decided that EMTALA’s requirement of emergency medical care overrode any contrary state law.

The case was appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately agreed on Oct. 10, 2023, to consider the case. In the meantime, it left the state law unaffected.

On Nov. 20, 2023, Mike Moyle, speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let the Idaho ban remain in effect. Idaho also asked the Supreme Court to consider the case.

In January 2024, the Supreme Court agreed to consider whether EMTALA can override state abortion bans when the two conflict. It also allowed the Idaho law to remain in effect while the case made its way through the courts.

That means that no doctors in Idaho can perform an abortion in the case of a serious medical emergency, unless the pregnant person is on the verge of death.

How the Supreme Court ultimately rules in this case has implications with respect to abortion and beyond.

In the seven states where abortion bans conflict with EMTALA, patients may be denied appropriate emergency care they would have otherwise received. For example, if a woman experiences an ectopic pregnancy, in which the fertilized egg is growing outside of the uterus, health providers are limited in what kind of treatment they can provide.

Depending on the stage of pregnancy, ectopic pregnancies are typically terminated with medication or surgery. Ectopic pregnancies are never viable. But if they are not ended, the fertilized egg would develop outside the uterus, causing great risk to the pregnant person’s life and fertility.

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