Trump Administration Moves to Dismiss Idaho Emergency Abortion Care Challenge, Health System Secures Temporary Block
- March 07, 2025
The Department of Justice this week decided to dismiss a challenge initiated under the Biden administration to an Idaho statute that criminalizes most abortions, which the lawsuit argued prevented care mandated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
Because the parties agreed to voluntarily dismiss the action, the preliminary injunction enjoining the statute in the context of medical emergencies was automatically dissolved without requiring judicial approval, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho said March 5.
In June 2024, a divided U.S. Supreme Court allowed the preliminary injunction to remain in place without resolving the merits of the government’s EMTALA preemption argument. Moyle v. United States, Nos. 23-726 and 23-727 (U.S. June 27, 2024). The Court sent the case back to the Ninth Circuit.
The Idaho statute criminalizing abortion includes an exception “to prevent the death of the pregnant woman” but not to preserve health, which the Biden administration argued conflicted with EMTALA’s requirement to provide stabilizing medical treatment necessary to ensure “no material deterioration” of an emergency medical condition.
Expecting the new administration to drop the government’s challenge to the law, St. Luke’s Health System filed its own lawsuit arguing EMTALA overrides the Idaho statute in medical emergencies.
Meanwhile, in that action, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho agreed March 4 to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining enforcement of the law as to “any medical provider or hospital” that performs an abortion to avoid placing the health of a pregnant patient in serious jeopardy.
In asking the court to intervene, St. Luke’s contended that even a short period without an injunction would require Idaho hospitals to “train their staff about the change in legal obligations, distracting them from providing medical care to their patients, and would once again require them to airlift patients out of state should a medical emergency arise so that those patients can consider the full spectrum of medically indicated care, including termination of pregnancy.”
The TRO will be in effect until the court issues its written decision on St. Luke’s motion for a preliminary injunction, which is expected within two weeks.
In July 2022, CMS issued guidance stating that EMTALA protects providers offering legally mandated, life- or health-saving abortion services in medical emergencies. The guidance, which drew a challenge from the state of Texas, asserted that EMTALA preempts state laws that do not include an exception for the life and health of the pregnant woman in medical emergencies. A federal court enjoined enforcement of the guidance in Texas, and the Fifth Circuit affirmed.
St. Luke’s Health Sys., Ltd. v. Labrador, No. 1:25-cv-00015-BLW (D. Idaho Mar. 4, 2025).