By Brendan Pierson
-U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday dropped a lawsuit that had been filed by the previous Biden administration in a bid to stop Idaho from enforcing its near-total abortion ban in medical emergencies.
The ban still remains blocked in emergencies due to a similar lawsuit brought by a hospital system.
The government’s voluntary dismissal of its lawsuit against the state automatically lifts a preliminary order by the judge overseeing the case.
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That order had blocked Idaho from enforcing its ban in cases where doctors believe abortion is needed to save a pregnant woman’s life or prevent serious harm to her health.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill late on Tuesday issued a new temporary restraining order in a separate lawsuit against the state by St. Luke’s Health System that continues, for now, to bar the state from enforcing the ban in such emergencies.
Winmill, who is presiding over both lawsuits, is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday afternoon on the Boise-based hospital system’s motion for a longer-term order limiting the state ban, and on the state’s motion to dismiss the case.
St. Luke’s asked for the temporary restraining order on Tuesday after being informed that the Trump administration would be dropping its case.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador, a Republican, has asked Winmill to narrow his restraining order to prevent enforcement only against St. Luke’s. The judge has not ruled on that request.
Idaho passed its near-total abortion ban, which includes an exception for saving the mother’s life, in 2020 as a so-called “trigger law”.
It was set to take effect when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, its landmark decision that had established abortion rights nationwide, which it did in June 2022.
In August 2022, the Biden administration sued the state, alleging that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires hospitals to provide “stabilizing care” to patients with emergency medical conditions, trumps the state ban in medical emergencies.
Winmill agreed and barred the state from enforcing the law in such cases while the lawsuit went forward.
The state appealed that ruling, eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to intervene.
St. Luke’s sued Labrador in January, saying it would be unable to provide required emergency care if the state ban were to go into effect.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Nia Williams)
