The Justice Department has dismissed a Biden-era lawsuit challenging Idaho’s strict abortion ban. Now, a hospital says it’s suing to protect people with high-risk pregnancies.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
An Idaho hospital is trying to keep the state’s strict abortion ban on pause. The Biden administration had challenged the law, but the Department of Justice under President Trump moved to dismiss the suit on Wednesday. St. Luke’s, the state’s largest health care provider, anticipated this. It already has a similar suit against Idaho’s attorney general. Reporter Julie Luchetta has more.
JULIE LUCHETTA: The original lawsuit argued Idaho’s law conflicts with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act – or EMTALA – requiring hospitals receiving federal funding provide stabilizing care, which can include abortions. Idaho’s ban only allows abortions in narrow cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill heard arguments in St. Luke’s case filed earlier this year. The plaintiffs asked the judge to block the ban from applying to emergency situations while the case makes its way through the courts.
That injunction would replace the one dropped by the Justice Department. St. Luke’s argued state law could not supersede a federal mandate. The judge is expected to make a ruling on the injunction request within the next two weeks. The attorney general’s office declined to comment on pending litigation. Speaking after the hearing, St. Luke’s counsel, Peg Dougherty, said they want emergency doctors to be able to stabilize pregnant patients.
PEG DOUGHERTY: We want them to receive the emergency care that is available to anyone who presents to an emergency room. That is our goal.
LUCHETTA: The state said the abortion ban does not conflict with the federal mandate, arguing EMTALA only requires hospitals to screen and stabilize patients. Defendants said it cannot dictate standards of care beyond that. Dr. Kathleen Keating is an OB-GYN at a clinic affiliated with St. Luke’s and attended the hearing. She pushed back against the state’s arguments, saying stabilizing patients was not black-and-white.
KATHLEEN KEATING: That’s not what we see as physicians. We see the impermanence of stability.
LUCHETTA: Especially, she said, because a pregnant woman’s condition can change quickly and potentially threaten her life. OB-GYN Anne Feighner attended the hearing and also works for a St. Luke’s affiliate.
ANNE FEIGHNER: I do not think it should be my job in the middle of the night to figure out which law supersedes the other.
LUCHETTA: For NPR News, I’m Julie Luchetta in Boise, Idaho.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANDREW GIALANELLA’S “LOST AND FOUND”)
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
