The Justice Department filed a challenge to Idaho's "trigger" near-total abortion ban — the Biden's administration's first abortion lawsuit against a state since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Axios reports. Idaho's ban, set to take effect in late August, would make abortion illegal unless needed to save a pregnant woman's life. DOJ argues the state's ban has "extremely narrow" exceptions and conflicts with federal law, which allows for abortions to be performed in emergency situations. Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, "every hospital that receives Medicare funds must provide necessary stabilizing treatment to a patient who arrives at an emergency room suffering from a medical condition that could place their life or health in serious jeopardy. In some circumstances, the medical treatment necessary to stabilize the patient's condition is abortion."
Idaho is not the only state with an abortion ban containing exceptions only to save the life of a pregnant person. Voters in Kansas rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment Tuesday that would have said there was no right to an abortion in the state, according to The Associated Press. Kansas was the first state to vote on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization. President Biden hailed Tuesday's vote and called on Congress to pass a law to restore nationwide abortion rights that were provided by Roe. "This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions," Biden said.
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