Today the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed an abortion case as improvidently granted, resulting in a lifting of the stay it previously placed on a federal court district order and upholding the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) in Idaho while the case goes to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Court’s decision will reinstate a lower court order to ensure that health care providers in Idaho can provide emergency abortion care in cases where the health of the mother is at stake.
Serra Sippel, Interim Executive Director of The Brigid Alliance, issued the following statement:
“While The Brigid Alliance is breathing a small sigh of relief that the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) will stay intact in Idaho, we are frustrated that by punting this case as it heads to the 9th Circuit, the Supreme Court is only contributing to the epidemic of confusion and misinformation that plagues health care providers and patients in every state with abortion bans of any kind.”
“Everyone deserves access to abortion care, no matter their background or where they live, and that includes emergency care. Period. As access to basic reproductive healthcare rapidly erodes as a result of abortion restrictions, the very least our country can do is ensure people have emergency care when needed. These restrictions are forcing people into acute healthcare crises, especially when they are unable to travel for non-emergent care.”
“This case should have never made its way up to the highest Court in the nation. There is a reason that Congress passed EMTALA in 1986, and why federal law has mandated that hospitals are equipped to provide life-saving reproductive care for the last 40 years.”
“Emergency rooms nationwide must be ready and willing to help people get the emergency abortion care they need and deserve. The Brigid Alliance will continue to work to ensure that we get people to abortion care, whatever it takes.”