A US federal judge on Wednesday blocked part of a law that bans nearly all abortions in northwestern Idaho, a victory for the Biden administration. The state will not be able to prosecute doctors who perform voluntary termination of pregnancy to protect a woman’s health, Judge B. Lynn Winmill has ruled.
This suspension will continue until a legal action challenging the abortion ban is finalized, it added. Idaho, a rural and conservative state in the western United States, was one of the first to adopt a new law after the US Supreme Court reversed course on abortion rights in late June.
The text enters into force on Thursday
The text, which is still very restrictive, will enter into force on Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland had asked the court to block the law, saying it violated a federal law on medical emergencies because it did not provide an exception in case of “serious danger to the health” of the pregnant woman and authorized legal action. against doctors. .
In his decision, Justice B. Lynn Winmill noted that this case “does not address the outdated constitutional right to abortion.” “This court does not have to decide this broader and deeper issue,” she wrote.
“But the court is being asked to resolve a much more modest issue, namely, whether Idaho’s abortion law conflicts with a small but important federal law. It does,” continued B. Lynn Winmill.
Although limited to a specific point, the decision marks a success for the Joe Biden administration. “Helps ensure that women in Idaho receive the emergency medical care they are entitled to under federal law,” Minister Merrick Garland said in a statement Wednesday.
A dozen states have already banned abortions on their territory, and eventually half of the 50 states should do so.
Source: BFM TV
