Twenty states, women affected by abortion, and several pro-life groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in State of Idaho v. United States of America asking the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the Biden-Harris administration from using federal law to override Idaho’s Defense of Life Act. Idaho’s law protects the lives of women and their unborn children, preventing doctors from performing abortions unless necessary to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.
The Office of the Idaho Attorney General, with the assistance of attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom, filed an opening brief with the court earlier this month in support of allowing the state to fully protect life.
In August 2022, the Biden-Harris administration sued Idaho, claiming that it could use the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and pay private hospitals to violate Idaho’s protections for life. But as Idaho explains, the federal government cannot use its Spending Clause power to pay private parties to circumvent state law.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the 9th Circuit for further consideration. That court will hear the case in December.
