(UnitedHeadlines.com) – Two years after its June 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court will rule on two abortion cases that could have implications for the legality of abortion.
The first case involves an Idaho state law that bans any abortions in the state except those for rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life. The Department of Justice, which argued the case before the Supreme Court in April, sued Idaho in November 2022, claiming its law is a violation of the 1986 federal law, Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which prevents patients having a medical emergency from being turned away by hospitals.
The Department of Justice argued that Idaho’s law could stop doctors from performing an emergency abortion due to fear of being prosecuted by the state. However, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito noted that under EMTALA, doctors must provide both the mother and the unborn child with emergency care. In contrast, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stated that EMTALA was never intended to prevent a woman “facing grave life and health consequences” from having an abortion.
The second case to be decided by the Supreme Court, which the justices heard in March, involves the Food and Drug Association’s regulations for access to abortion pill prescriptions. In 2022, a group of doctors from the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine filed a lawsuit arguing that women risk serious complications that could require emergency treatment and surgery due to the FDA regulations that allow abortion pills to be prescribed and shipped via mail without an in-person doctor visit.
The doctors argued that the FDA failed to ensure that the new regulations would not increase the risk to the patient’s health or that it could require doctors to perform abortions against their beliefs. However, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan noted there are “mechanisms in place” already at many hospitals for doctors to recuse themselves from certain procedures.
The Supreme Court is set to rule on both cases before the end of June.
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