{"id":2229207,"date":"2024-04-24T14:10:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T18:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admins-top-lawyer-cant-explain-to-scotus-how-a-1986-law-suddenly-mandates-abortion\/"},"modified":"2024-04-24T14:13:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T18:13:42","slug":"biden-admins-top-lawyer-cant-explain-to-scotus-how-a-1986-law-suddenly-mandates-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admins-top-lawyer-cant-explain-to-scotus-how-a-1986-law-suddenly-mandates-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Administration&#8217;s Lawyer Struggles to Justify 1986 Law&#8217;s Abortion Mandate to SCOTUS"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-admins-top-lawyer-cant-explain-to-scotus-how-a-1986-law-suddenly-mandates-abortion%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2229207&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Biden administration&#8217;s\u2064 legal battle \u2063with Idaho\u2062 over abortion regulations involves conflicting interpretations of a 1986\u200b law.\u2064 The Department of Justice asserts its stance\u200c through reinterpreting the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, leading\u200b to a\u2062 clash on state and federal abortion mandates. Supreme Court deliberations highlight\u200c the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-grants-trump-extended-deadlines-in-florida-case-but-trial-date-remains\/\" title=\"Judge grants Trump extended deadlines in Florida case, but trial date remains\">intricate legal complexities \u2062surrounding<\/a> this contentious issue.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>The Biden administration\u2019s lawyer scrambled on Tuesday to explain to the U.S. Supreme Court how a 1986 federal law that promotes preserving the health of the mother and her \u201cunborn child\u201d in medical emergencies should require Idaho hospitals to perform abortions against exceptions outlined in state law.<\/p>\n<p>Idaho\u2019s Defense of Life Act law, which went into effect in August 2022, prohibits abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or if a physician deems it necessary to save the mother\u2019s life. The federal government, adamant about advancing President Joe Biden\u2019s abortion agenda, sued Idaho over its <a href=\"https:\/\/idahofamily.org\/new-poll-results-idaho-voters-on-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">popular<\/a> life law.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1185318063\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-497037a260f97379adb0a9d137d59563 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-497037a260f97379adb0a9d137d59563\"><\/div>\n<p>The Department of Justice hinged its lawsuit on a manufactured federal abortion mandate that came through the Biden administration reinterpreting the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/42\/1395dd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reagan-era Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).<\/a> The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) created the expansion after Biden issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/FR-2022-07-13\/pdf\/2022-15138.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">executive order<\/a> demanding it in the wake of the Supreme Court\u2019s <em>Dobbs v. Jackson<\/em> ruling.<\/p>\n<p>EMTALA, designed to stop hospitals from turning away patients based on their inability to pay for their expenses, explicitly does \u201cnot preempt any State or local law requirement, except to the extent that the requirement\u00a0directly\u00a0conflicts with.\u201d The Biden administration, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/files\/document\/qso-22-22-hospitals.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> abortion should be classified as a \u201cstabilizing\u201d procedure \u201cirrespective of any state laws or mandates that apply to specific procedures.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>After a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/while-gas-hits-record-high-biden-administration-cancels-enormous-alaska-oil-and-gas-lease-sale\/\" title=\"While Gas Hits Record-High, Biden Administration Cancels Enormous Alaska Oil And Gas Lease Sale\">conflicting court rulings<\/a> and appeals, the Supreme Court issued a stay in January that allowed the enforcement of the life-saving law throughout the judicial process. During the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0ZJv0CiyWQw&#038;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fadflegal.org%2F&#038;source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&#038;feature=emb_logo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> questioning portion of Tuesday\u2019s <em>Moyle v. United States <\/em>oral arguments<\/a>, Justice Samuel<em> <\/em>Alito asked Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to explain how the federal government reconciled EMTALA\u2019s clear-cut mention of babies in the womb with CMS\u2019s abortion-themed expansion of the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne potentially very important phrase in EMTALA has hardly been mentioned. Maybe it hasn\u2019t even been mentioned at all. And that is an imposed reference to the woman\u2019s \u2018unborn child.\u2019 Isn\u2019t that an odd phrase to put in a statute that imposes a mandate to perform abortions?\u201d Alito questioned. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b2a78ff87f49e2f24473e14d9283f0fe fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b2a78ff87f49e2f24473e14d9283f0fe\"><\/div>\n<p>Prelogar dodged the question but was pressed again by Alito to explain why a statute that the federal government claims covers abortion would mention the unborn baby. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems that the plain meaning is that the hospital has tried to eliminate any immediate threat to the child. But performing an abortion is antithetical to that and duty,\u201d Alito noted. \u201cYou go so far as to say that the statute is clear in your favor. I don\u2019t know how you can say that in light of those provisions that I\u2019ve just read to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prelogar claimed Alito\u2019s concern shouldn\u2019t matter because \u201cin many of the cases you\u2019re thinking about, there is no possible way to stabilize the unborn child because the fetus is sufficiently before viability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe pregnancy is inevitably going to be lost, but Idaho would deny women in that circumstance even though it\u2019s senseless,\u201d Prelogar continued. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-89601804eb83cac663c9185cc31d3703 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-89601804eb83cac663c9185cc31d3703\"><\/div>\n<p>Alito, unsatisfied with Prelogar\u2019s scrambling, doubled down on his suggestion that Idaho\u2019s law seems to preempt EMTALA. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe statute imposes on the hospital a duty to the woman, certainly, and also a duty to the child. It doesn\u2019t tell the hospital how it is to adjudicate conflicts between those interests and it leaves that to state law,\u201d Alito noted.<\/p>\n<p>Alito also criticized Prelogar after she tried to \u201cget out of what I\u2019ve just outlined\u201d by claiming the definition of \u201cindividual\u201d in EMTALA does not include an unborn baby. He rejected this by noting that \u201cdictionary definitions apply only if they are not inconsistent with the statutory text.\u201d The Idaho law, Alito continued, \u201cindisputably protects the interests of the unborn child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In her reply, Prelogar accused Alito and others of suggesting that \u201cthe woman herself isn\u2019t an individual, that she doesn\u2019t deserve stabilization.\u201d Alito rejected that claim on its face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of your argument today has been dedicated to the proposition that Idaho has a bad law, and that may well be the case, but what you\u2019re asking us to do is to construe this statute that was enacted back during the Reagan administration and signed by President Reagan to mean that there\u2019s an obligation under certain circumstances to perform an abortion, even if doing that is a violation of state law,\u201d Alito said. <\/p>\n<p>Prelogar didn\u2019t take heat from just Alito over the federal government\u2019s argument in this particular case. She also faced <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RogerSeverino_\/status\/1783156878513467749\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressure from Justice Amy Coney Barrett<\/a> after claiming that EMTALA requires states to allow abortions if they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-house-republicans-introduce-ban-on-funding-research-in-china\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Introduce Ban On Funding Research In China\">receive taxpayer funding<\/a>, even though the Hyde Amendment prohibits taxpayer-funded abortion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is hugely concerning if the federal government can pay private actors to violate state laws and not just any state law state criminal laws,\u201d Josh Turner, a lawyer for Attorney General\u00a0Ra\u00fal Labrador\u2019s office arguing on behalf of Idaho, said during his concluding argument. \u201cThe implications of that are vast. It leaves the federal government unbound by enumerated powers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After Prelogar admitted \u201cthere are six other states that have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/midterms-democrats-at-risk-even-in-districts-biden-won-by-10-15-points-in-2020\/\" title=\"Midterms: Democrats at Risk Even in Districts Biden Won by 10-15 Points in 2020\">severe abortion restrictions<\/a> without a health exception,\u201d Turner also warned that any states with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-to-hear-appeal-over-ky-abortion-law\/\" title=\"SCOTUS to hear appeal over Ky. abortion law\">pro-life laws<\/a> are at risk of prosecution by the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t going to end with the six states that General Prelogar mentioned, because all of the states that have abortion regulations define the health and the emergency exception narrower than EMTALA does. So this question is going to come up in state after state after state is also not limited to physical health,\u201d Turner said in his closing arguments. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f34c811de4ec23b400c67bee9d6d76d1 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f34c811de4ec23b400c67bee9d6d76d1\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, the Biden administration&#8217;s lawyer faced challenges clarifying to the U.S. Supreme Court the application of a 1986 federal law in compelling Idaho hospitals to perform abortions, conflicting with state law exceptions. This legal clash involves Idaho&#8217;s Defense of Life Act and its implications for medical emergencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":2229208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-design-3.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2229207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-design-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2229207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2229207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2229207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2229208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2229207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2229207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2229207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}