DOJ files motion to dismiss challenge to Idaho pro-life protections

The Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit previously filed by the Biden administration to fight pro-life laws in Idaho. The Biden administration in 2022 filed a lawsuit alleging that the state’s sweeping legal protections for unborn babies violated federal law. Federally funded medical facilities are legally required to perform stabilizing health care procedures on any patients in a medical emergency defined under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, according to the lawsuit. The Biden administration argued that in certain medical emergencies, stabilizing care would require the ending of a pregnancy, which the state aimed to criminalize, according to the lawsuit. The complaint insisted that because federal law constitutionally supersedes state statutes, Idaho could not criminally charge and prosecute doctors for following federal regulations.

Doesn’t Idaho’s law include an emergency exception? Idaho’s law includes an exception legally allowing doctors to end a pregnancy in order to prevent the woman’s death. Critics argue this exception does not extend to other severe circumstances that could permanently damage a woman’s health and bodily functions, and ultimately prove to be life-threatening at a future time. The Biden administration's lawsuit said it aimed to expand the medical exception to include potentially life-threatening conditions like organ failure or septic infection, for example. Doctors may also legally end pregnancies resulting from rape or incest under Idaho’s law if the woman or her parents reported the crime to police. The doctor must obtain a copy of the police report before performing the procedure, according to the law.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on an appeals court considering the case last year.