The Joe Biden administration filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging an Idaho state law that bans virtually all abortions, its first legal action since the U.S. Supreme Court’s U-turn on abortion rights.
The Democratic president had denounced the Superior Court ruling of June 24, which buried the constitutional right of American women to have an abortion, and promised to do everything possible to defend access to abortion.
Although his room for maneuver is limited, his Justice Minister, Merrick Garland, had created a unit in charge of evaluating the laws adopted as a result of this decision by the States opposed to abortion.
Without exceptions
Idaho, a rural and conservative state in the American West, was one of the first to adopt a new law, which is supposed to take effect on August 25, authorizing abortions only to save the life of a pregnant woman.
Merrick Garland asked the court to block it, arguing that it violates a federal law on medical emergencies since it does not provide an exception in case of “serious danger to the health” of the pregnant woman and authorizes lawsuits against doctors.
According to him, federal law considers that performing an abortion can be “the necessary treatment to stabilize a patient in the event of a medical emergency.” However, since the Supreme Court ruling, “there has been a lot of information about postponements, delays, even refusals to treat pregnant women in a medical emergency,” he noted.
A dozen states have already banned abortions on their territory, and eventually half of the 50 states should do so. A referendum on the subject, this Tuesday in Kansas, will take the pulse of public opinion.
Source: BFM TV
