Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Moyle v. U.S., which will allow, for now, emergency abortion care in Idaho protected by the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
“First, let me be clear: abortion is life-saving health care. I am relieved to see the Supreme Court preserve, for now, an injunction against the draconian Idaho law prohibiting emergency abortion care. This decision will allow emergency rooms in that state to continue to provide abortions when they are necessary to save the health or life of a pregnant patient, which is the bare minimum for women facing unspeakable health crises. For today, this is a win for reproductive health care. However, as Justice Jackson noted in her dissent, patients and providers deserve clear expectations, but the future of emergency abortion care in banned states remains uncertain. And the reality is that the cruel attacks on abortion care will not stop.
“Here in Illinois, we openly welcome patients and providers seeking and offering comprehensive reproductive health care, and I have proudly worked to ensure we have and will continue to protect every aspect of reproductive health care. Similar to federal EMTALA, Illinois law has long required hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to any person who shows up to an emergency room in crisis. In partnership with the governor, we drafted recently-passed legislation to reaffirm the longstanding principle that the Illinois law that requires hospitals to provide emergency care includes abortion as a stabilizing treatment. This legislation will reinforce that medical providers, not any lawmaker or judge, are in the best position to determine the appropriate treatment to stabilize the patient in front of them.”
