CV NEWS FEED // Idaho’s congressional delegation has called on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the state’s pro-life laws from the Biden Administration. Hearings to decide the future of abortion in Idaho began in the Court on April 24.
CatholicVote reported in February that Republican Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador filed a brief in the Supreme Court after the Biden Administration sued the state government in 2022 to overturn its pro-life law.
The Administration invoked the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), saying that Idaho’s Defense of Life Act, which almost totally bans abortions, is illegal.
The Biden Administration initially won the case, but the state government appealed to higher courts. The Supreme Court began hearings for the case on April 24, but a decision is not expected to be made until June.
Ahead of the court hearings, several members of the Idaho congressional delegation filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court and denounced the Administration’s actions in a news release as “harmful” and “overreaching.”
Republican Idaho Senator Mike Crapo said in the news release that the Biden Administration falsely interpreted EMTALA.
“[EMTALA] was deliberately created to protect women and children in active labor,” he continued. “Every American has the fundamental right to life, including the unborn, and Idaho has strong laws in place to ensure innocent lives are protected.
Republican Idaho Sen. James Risch added that the Administration “cherry-picked pieces of existing statute and wrongfully reinterpreted it to fit their agenda.”
“Their manipulation of federal law cannot usurp state law, and there is no federal right to an abortion,” he said.
Republican Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson said that the attempt to overturn the law detracts from the power of the American people and goes against the 2022 Supreme Court decision that returned abortion legislation to individual states.
“The Supreme Court rightfully ruled that states have the right to protect life, yet this administration continues to undermine that decision. I strongly support the right of all states to protect the unborn, and I reaffirm this priority by joining this amicus brief,” Simpson said.
