WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01) released the following statement after the Supreme Court dismissed Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States.

"Today's Supreme Court decision only temporarily ensures life-saving abortion care is available to Idahoans who need it. However, the fact remains that Idaho is still under a draconian abortion ban because of the Dobbs decision. This is a temporary win because emergency access to abortion care has been restored for now. However, the door is open to continued attacks on our freedoms because the underlying lawsuit which seeks to eliminate emergency abortion access will continue.

"In the wake of Dobbs, these critical decisions are being left in the hands of politicians, judges, and lawyers instead of the patients themselves. This uncertainty is unacceptable. We cannot continue to hold our breath while our fundamental rights hang in the balance.

"As co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus, I will never stop fighting for reproductive freedom and access to reproductive health care, including emergency abortion, for all people. We will continue to stand up for the rights of individuals to make their own medical decisions in consultation with their healthcare providers, free from political interference."

Background:

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law requiring hospital emergency departments to provide stabilizing treatment to any patient, regardless of ability to pay.

In August 2022, as Idaho's abortion trigger ban was set to take effect, a federal judge in Idaho blocked the ban in cases of emergency medical care, as required by the federal law EMTALA. The rest of the ban went into effect.

In January of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the two cases out of Idaho challenging whether EMTALA preempts the state abortion ban. However, they also granted a stay on the lower court's order, allowing the full ban to be enforced as they heard the consolidated EMTALA cases.

Today, the Supreme Court dismissed the case before them which sent the ruling back to the lower courts, allowing the lawsuit to end access to emergency abortion care to continue.

In March, Rep. DeGette, along with Democratic leadership, sent an amicus brief with over 200 Congressional Democrats urging SCOTUS to uphold federal law and protect the fundamental right to all emergency care, including abortion.