Supreme Court to hear arguments in Idaho abortion case: Live updates | AP News

Here’s what to know:

• What is EMTALA?: The federal law at the heart of this case, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires doctors to stabilize or treat any patient who shows up at an emergency room.
• When will there be a ruling?: The court is expected to issue a decision this summer, though the exact date is unclear.

One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to check her in.

Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility.

And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn’t offer an ultrasound. The baby later died.

Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal.

The cases raise alarms about the state of emergency pregnancy care in the U.S., especially in states that enacted strict abortion laws and sparked confusion around the treatment doctors can provide.

It’s happened despite federal mandates that the women be treated.

Federal law requires emergency rooms to treat or stabilize patients who are in active labor and provide a medical transfer to another hospital if they don’t have the staff or resources to treat them. Medical facilities must comply with the law if they accept Medicare funding.

The case before the Supreme Court today could weaken those protections.

▶ Read more about the state of emergency pregnancy care.

Since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has repeatedly reminded hospitals that his administration considers an abortion part of the stabilizing care that EMTALA requires facilities to provide.

The administration argues that Idaho’s law prevents ER doctors from offering an abortion if a woman needs one in a medical emergency.

But Idaho’s attorney general has pointed out that EMTALA also requires hospitals to consider the health of the “unborn child” in its treatment, too.

▶ Read more about EMTALA, the patient protection law at the heart of today’s case.

Nearly 9 in 10 adults (86%) say they support protecting access to abortion for patients experiencing a miscarriage or other pregnancy-related emergencies, according to a KFF poll conducted in February. About 9 in 10 Democrats and independents, as well as approximately 8 in 10 Republicans, favor access to abortion in these crisis situations.

However, many Americans make a distinction between supporting abortion access in an emergency scenario and guaranteeing a federal right to abortion. The same poll found about two-thirds of Americans back a national right to abortion, including nearly 9 in 10 Democrats. Two-thirds of independents, but just 43% of Republicans, agree.

Simply put, the law at the heart of this case requires emergency rooms to offer a medical exam if you present at their facility. The law applies to nearly all emergency rooms — any that accept Medicare funding.

Those emergency rooms are required to stabilize patients if they do have a medical emergency before discharging or transferring them. And if the emergency room doesn’t have the resources or staff to properly treat that patient, staff are required to arrange a medical transfer to another hospital, after they’ve confirmed the facility can accept the patient.

So, for example, if a pregnant woman shows up at an emergency room concerned that she is in labor but there is no OB/GYN on staff, hospital staff cannot simply direct the woman to go elsewhere.

▶ Read more about EMTALA, the patient protection law at the heart of today’s case.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine whether doctors can provide abortions to pregnant women with medical emergencies in states that enact abortion bans.

The Justice Department has sued Idaho over its abortion law, which only allows a woman to get an abortion when her life — not her health — is at risk. The state law has raised questions about when a doctor is able to provide the stabilizing treatment that federal law requires.

The federal law, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, requires doctors to stabilize or treat any patient who shows up at an emergency room.