PRO-LIFE WISCONSIN REACTS TO U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION ON EMTALA ABORTION CASE

For Immediate Release: June 27, 2024

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a lower court order allowing Idaho hospitals to perform emergency abortions in situations where the mother’s health is threatened. In a 6-3 decision, the Court stated their acceptance of the case Moyle v. United States was “improvidently granted,” refraining from ruling on the merits of the case and sending it back to the lower courts for further review. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas dissented.

The U.S. Justice Department (USDOJ) sued Idaho in 2022 over its post-Roe abortion ban that permits abortion only in cases of rape, incest, and to prevent the death of the mother. The USDOJ argued that federal EMTALA laws, which require Medicare funded hospitals to provide "necessary stabilizing treatment" to pregnant women in emergencies, supersede Idaho’s abortion ban in situations where the mother’s health is at serious risk.

Matt Sande, Pro-Life Wisconsin Legislative Director, offered the following comments:

Abortion is not healthcare. There are no situations where abortion, statutorily defined as the intentional killing of an unborn child, is medically necessary to save the life or improve the health of the mother, whether in a hospital emergency room or an outpatient clinic.

Equal care for mother and unborn baby in a health emergency is the antithesis of intentionally killing a preborn living human being. Medical emergency early inductions and cesarean sections seek to separate baby from mom in a concerted effort to save both lives. They are not legal abortions. In short, medical procedures intended to save the life of a pregnant mother, and not intended to kill her preborn baby, are not abortions. Legally, such medical operations are not considered abortions when the baby inadvertently dies because they do not involve the intentional killing of a preborn child. None have ever been prosecuted by any district attorney in this country, even when the mother’s life or health was not immediately threatened.

Pro-Life Wisconsin agrees with Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador that EMTALA requires hospitals "to protect and care for an 'unborn child’," not kill him or her by abortion.

CONTACT:
Matt Sande, Legislative Director
P: 262.352.0890
E: [email protected]