The U.S. Supreme Court today issued an opinion dismissing the petitions for certiorari in Moyle v. United States and United States v. Idaho as improvidently granted. These cases address the interaction between the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which mandates Medicare-funded hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment for patients with emergency medical conditions, and Idaho’s Defense of Life Act, a post-Dobbs law criminalizing most abortions.
In response to the Court's opinion, Attorney General Dana Nessel released a statement: “While this decision provides a temporary cessation of a very dangerous and deadly law, this fight is far from over. Across the country, abortion opponents are continually attempting to limit women’s reproductive freedoms. We cannot let our guard down on this, or on the many other reproductive care cases pending throughout our nation’s court systems. I remain committed to combatting these efforts and protecting access to reproductive healthcare across the State.”
The ruling reinstates the district court’s preliminary injunction, permitting hospitals in Idaho to provide emergency abortion care under EMTALA while the case continues.
Following the Dobbs decision, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance reaffirming that EMTALA requires providers to offer stabilizing care, including abortion care, for patients with emergency medical conditions regardless of state law. Despite this guidance, states such as Texas and Idaho have argued that their restrictive abortion bans supersede EMTALA.
Nessel has been an advocate for reproductive health since taking office in 2019. The Attorney General has joined multi-state amicus briefs supporting the Biden administration in Idaho v. US and has participated in coalitions seeking to preserve access to medication abortion nationwide.
As Michigan’s Attorney General, Nessel supported a ballot measure aimed at enshrining reproductive rights into Michigan law, which passed with 57 percent voter support. Since then, anti-abortion activists have pursued legal challenges against the law. In November 2023, Right to Life of Michigan, along with Republican lawmakers and others opposed to abortion rights in Michigan, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate Section 28 of Article 1 of the Michigan Constitution following Proposal 3's passage. The lawsuit names Nessel, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as defendants.
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