The AAMC joined the American Hospital Association and America’s Essential Hospitals in an Oct. 11 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals amicus brief explaining that Idaho law criminalizes the termination of a pregnancy even when it is medically necessary and required to stabilize a patient under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The brief urged the appellate court to maintain the injunction under which women in Idaho will still be able to obtain an abortion in a medical emergency.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Moyle v. United States but declined to rule on the merits, instead reinstating the district court’s injunction and sending the case back to the 9th Circuit for further proceedings [refer to Washington Highlights, June 28]. The case involves an Idaho statute that makes it a crime for health care providers to terminate a pregnancy without making an exception for stabilizing care, as EMTALA requires. Physicians and other providers seeking to comply with EMTALA based on their medical judgment could face felony charges and the loss of their professional licenses.
The brief explains that the threat of criminal and professional sanctions interferes with the exercise of expert medical judgment and chills even the provision of care that would ultimately be adjudicated lawful. This interference is especially striking in the context of the emergency department, where health care providers must make rapid decisions and where delay in providing medically necessary care can result in irreversible complications.