The Biden Justice Department announced Tuesday it is suing the state of Idaho over its new law banning most abortions.
The suit promises to be the first in a series of actions the DOJ will take to try to limit the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June that overturned the 1973 case Roe v. Wade.
In Roe, justices had created a national right to obtain an abortion.
The Idaho law bans all abortions except in the cases of rape or incest that are reported to law enforcement or when a physician determines “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.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland argued at a news conference on Tuesday that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act supersedes the new Idaho law, which is set to take effect on Aug. 25.
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“When a hospital determines that an abortion is the medical treatment necessary to stabilize a patient’s emergency medical condition, it is required by federal law to provide that treatment,” Garland said.
“Although the Idaho law provides an exception to prevent the death of a pregnant woman, it includes no exception for cases in which the abortion is necessary to prevent serious jeopardy to the woman’s health,” he added.
Garland further alleged that the Idaho law would subject doctors to arrest and criminal prosecution, “even it they performed an abortion to save a woman’s life.”
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Well, the law specifically identifies saving the life of a mother as an exception to the abortion ban.
The statute also gives doctors fairly wide latitude to make a “good faith judgment” whether an abortion is required to save the life of the mother.
So Garland is grandstanding on the issue, trying to play the part of the supposed voice of reason.
LifeNews.com tweeted in response, “Joe Biden is suing to block Idaho’s abortion ban, falsely claiming it prevents treatment in medical emergencies. Every single abortion ban nationwide allows treatment for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and to protect the mother’s life.”
BREAKING: Joe Biden is suing to block Idaho’s abortion ban, falsely claiming it prevents treatment in medical emergencies. Every single abortion ban nationwide allows treatment for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and to protect the mother’s life.
— LifeNews.com (@LifeNewsHQ) August 2, 2022
Garland signaled the DOJ will be filing other suits aimed at trying to undermine state pro-life laws.
“On the day Roe and Casey were overturned, we promised that the Justice Department would work tirelessly to protect and advance reproductive freedom,” Garland said in a Tuesday news release.
“That is what we are doing, and that is what we will continue to do,” he continued.
“We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that pregnant women get the emergency medical treatment to which they are entitled under federal law. And we will closely scrutinize state abortion laws to ensure that they comply with federal law.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Texas sued the Biden administration over new Department of Health and Human Services guidance regarding providing “stabilizing” care to the mother.
“They are trying to have their appointed bureaucrats mandate that hospitals and emergency- medicine physicians perform abortions,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said at the time.
Leave it up to the Biden administration to try to thwart a Supreme Court ruling and the will of the voters as expressed through their elected representatives.
Biden and his team just can’t stop fighting for the “right” to obtain an abortion, but could care less about the right of the unborn to live.
