Supreme Court judges wrestle with abortion access in emergency cases

WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, justices are wrestling with a litany of state abortion restrictions, and whether they undercut federal law.

The latest abortion battle before the court centers on national requirements that doctors do everything they can to stabilize an emergency room patient, including performing an abortion if necessary. The Biden administration sued Idaho in the months after the court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, arguing the state’s new abortion ban clashed with the requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

Those emergency care requirements have become a linchpin in the Biden administration’s efforts to fortify abortion protections as 22 states enact restrictions, including 14 near-total bans.

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