WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court In a dispute over emergency abortion care in Texas on Monday, it rejected an appeal by the Biden administration, securing a lower court victory for the Republican-led state.
The ruling marks a setback for the Biden administration, months after the court fought a similar case from Idaho.
The ruling upholds a ruling in favor of Texas by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that in some cases the federal law on emergency care overrides the state’s abortion restrictions.
A larger legal challenge remains unresolved at the national level.
A 1986 federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires that patients, including pregnant women with what the federal government says are serious complications, receive appropriate emergency care. The law applies to hospitals that receive federal funding through the Medicare program.
After the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 and strict bans in some states, the Biden administration issued guidance saying states could not enforce parts of abortion bans that conflicted with federal law.
That sparked a lawsuit, with Texas challenging the guideline and the administration suing Idaho over its abortion ban.
In the Idaho case, the Supreme Court in June bypassed It is a key decision that some judges say the court is too quick to resolve a legal issue. Meanwhile, a lower court ruling allowing emergency room doctors to perform abortions in some cases remains in place.
A federal judge in Texas ruled against the administration, saying the federal government overstepped its authority by issuing the directive. The decision was upheld on appeal.
The administration appealed to the Supreme Court, but asked the justices to stay the case until Idaho resolves the dispute. Over the summer, Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the court to overturn the appeals court’s decision to reconsider the new developments.
Separately, the court declined to hear another abortion case, this one from Guam, on whether the territory’s Supreme Court had jurisdiction to rule that a 1990 abortion ban should no longer be on the books.
In another move, the court rejected an appeal of an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February that threatened the availability of in vitro fertilization in the state. Legislature quickly the state law was amended ensuring that treatment remains available makes the case largely moot.