Biden Justice Department sues Idaho over state's abortion restrictions in first post

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/02/politics/justice-department-abortion-idaho/index.html

(CNN)The Biden administration filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Idaho for restricting access to abortion to patients who need lifesaving medical treatment, the first such Justice Department challenge since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.

Idaho's near-total abortion ban, which will take effect later this month, would make it nearly impossible, according to the Justice Department. for patients who need an abortion in emergency medical situations, such as an ectopic pregnancy or other complications, from receiving potentially lifesaving treatment.

"In the days since the Dobbs decision, there have been widespread reports of delays or denials to pregnant women experiencing medical emergencies," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news conference Tuesday. "We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that pregnant women get the medical care that they are entitled to."

The trigger law, which was passed in 2020, would make providing abortions a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The ban has exceptions for cases of rape or incest if reported to law enforcement or to prevent the death of the pregnant person.

*snip*

[The Unmitigated Gall]

1. So....the plan is to be straight-up killing women in Idaho

An ectopic pregnancy is utterly non-viable, an accident of nature and deadly to the woman if not surgically removed on an emergent basis.

[FBaggins]

2. The reporting is less clear than it could be. The DOJ description is closer

The Idaho law says "in his good faith medical judgment and based on the facts known to the physician at the time, that the abortion was necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman".

Any ectopic pregnancy would clearly fit that description.

The lawsuit appears to be pretty narrow. It doesn't try to overturn the law, it essentially just asks for a loophole that would only apply to emergency rooms in hospitals that accept Medicare and cases that involve a medical emergency.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

3. Yeah. It's definitely murky.

From the medical standpoint, an ectopic pregnancy is a surgical emergency which frequently can’t wait for bureaucratic/legal consideration. It’s those delays that will potentially kill women rather than a law expressly forbidding removal of an egg/embryo per se.