By Brendan Pierson
(Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration is expected to drop a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration that had sought to stop Idaho from enforcing its near-total abortion ban in medical emergencies, according to a court filing in a separate lawsuit by a hospital system.
Idaho is currently blocked by a preliminary federal court order from enforcing its ban in cases where doctors believe abortion is needed to save a pregnant woman’s life or prevent serious harm. If the government drops its case, the order would no longer be in effect.
In the filing in Idaho federal court, St. Luke’s Health System asked for a temporary restraining order stopping the state from enforcing the ban in medical emergencies even if the government drops its case.
The Boise-based hospital system said it had been informed by the U.S. Justice Department that the government could file a motion to drop the case on Wednesday.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
St. Luke’s had sued the state’s attorney general in January, saying it would be unable to provide necessary emergency care if the state ban were to go into effect.
Idaho passed its near-total abortion ban, which includes an exception for saving the mother’s life, as a so-called “trigger law” to take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that established abortion rights nationwide. The court overturned Roe in June 2022.
In August 2022, the Biden administration sued the state, alleging that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires hospitals to provide “stabilizing care” to patients with emergency medical conditions, trumps the state ban in medical emergencies.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill agreed and barred the state from enforcing the law in such cases while the lawsuit went forward, which has been in effect while the state appealed the case.
How much states can ban or restrict abortions in medical emergencies remains an unresolved issue nationwide.
Texas’ highest court last May refused to clarify its abortion ban’s medical emergency exception in response to a lawsuit by patients and doctors, finding that the ban allows abortion “before death or serious physical impairment are imminent” but not offering further guidance.
A judge in Indiana last September refused to broaden the medical emergency exception in that state’s abortion ban in response to a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
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