Attorney General Raúl Labrador has announced that the Trump Administration's Department of Justice will cease pursuing legal action against Idaho's Defense of Life Act. This development concludes the case of Idaho v. United States.
"It has been our position from the beginning that there is no conflict between EMTALA and Idaho’s Defense of Life Act," stated Attorney General Labrador. "The goal of each is to save lives in every circumstance, both the mother and their unborn child. We are grateful that meddlesome DOJ litigation on this issue will no longer be an obstacle to Idaho enforcing its laws. Idaho will continue defending life as intended by the legislature and our people."
Following the passage of Idaho's Defense of Life Act, a lawsuit was filed by the Biden Administration's Department of Justice against Idaho, challenging its alignment with federal law under EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act). The 1986 statute requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing treatment regardless of a patient's ability to pay. The Biden DOJ argued it mandated abortions contrary to state law.
The Idaho Supreme Court clarified that the state's act allows for abortion based on a doctor's subjective, good-faith judgment if they believe the mother's life is at risk, without requiring certainty or imminent threat of death. Idaho maintains that EMTALA does not impose a standard of care mandating abortion but directs emergency rooms to treat both mothers and their unborn children.