Statement of Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 27, 2024 – Today, the Supreme Court, in an unsigned opinion, dismissed for now a challenge to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act’s (EMTALA) protections for emergency abortion care in Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States. The Court held that it should have not accepted the case in the first place, effectively rejecting the State of Idaho’s effort to get a quick ruling from the Court to preempt EMTALA in favor of Idaho’s abortion ban even though the underlying litigation was still in its early stages. As a result of today’s decision, the litigation below will now continue in the lower courts.

EMTALA – a nearly 40-year-old federal law – guarantees necessary and stabilizing treatment for people with emergency medical conditions, including abortion. The Court missed an opportunity to state clearly and unequivocally that EMTALA’s protections preempt state abortion bans. By failing to do so, confusion about the scope of patient protections and providers’ legal obligations will continue putting the health of pregnant people across the country at risk.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision means that, for the moment, pregnant patients in Idaho should have access to EMTALA’s emergency care protections, but the ruling falls far short of the protection that patients and providers truly need. The Court did nothing to clear up the confusion among providers and patients, and failed to state clearly that EMTALA’s protections could not be circumvented by restrictive state measures. Any person who is pregnant and in dire need of medical care cannot afford delays or denials,” said Jocelyn C. Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “For nearly four decades, EMTALA has provided life-saving, nationwide protections for pregnant people in emergencies, and the Court never should have taken up Idaho’s challenge.

By shirking their obligation to settle areas of the law, the Court has perpetuated the chaos and confusion around when and whether providers can give life- and health-saving emergency abortion care. Providers will continue to be undermined in their ability to care for their patients, forced to decide between providing the standard of care or risking criminalization. And pregnant people facing medical emergencies will continue to be forced to wait until they can receive care, putting their future fertility, their health, and their very lives at risk.

In the wake of this decision, access to abortion care will continue to remain fraught for people in Idaho and other states with abortion bans. As first-hand stories from Idaho, Texas, and states across the country have proven, exceptions to abortion bans are unworkable in practice. And denying pregnant people essential care is especially egregious in light of our country’s ongoing maternal health crisis.

As this case – and many others – proceed through the legal system, we will continue to fight to preserve abortion access and the autonomy of pregnant people to make their own decisions. The National Partnership is in this fight for the long haul, and we remain confident that the majority of Americans who believe in the right to abortion will ultimately prevail.”

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