Democratic President Joe Biden had promised to do everything possible to defend access to pregnancy terminations after the judgment of the United States Supreme Court on June 24 which buried the constitutional right of American women to obtain an abortion.
His government filed its first legal action since the High Court’s about-turn on this ultra-sensitive subject by filing a complaint on Tuesday, August 2, against a law in the state of Idaho which bans almost all abortions.
Although the room for maneuver is limited, the Minister of Justice, Merrick Garland, had set up a unit responsible for evaluating the laws adopted in the wake of this decision by the States opposed to abortion. June 24, “we promised to work tirelessly to protect and promote reproductive freedoms, that is what we are doing today and we will continue to do so,” said Merrick Garland who asked the court to block the Idaho law.
A very restrictive law
Idaho, a rural and conservative state in the American West, was among the first to adopt a new law, supposed to come into effect on August 25, which authorizes abortions only to save the life of a woman. pregnant. Merrick Garland considers this text too restrictive compared to the federal law on medical emergencies which provides for an intervention in the event of “serious health hazard” of the pregnant woman.
Mr Garland believes that Idaho’s new law – which allows for lawsuits against doctors – “would make it a criminal offense for physicians to provide emergency medical care required by federal law”. According to the latter, performing an abortion can be “the treatment necessary to stabilize a patient in the event of a medical emergency”. However, since the Supreme Court ruling, “there have been many reports of postponements, delays, and even refusals to treat pregnant women in a medical emergency”Mr. Garland noted.
The American media gave the example of a woman whose waters broke in early pregnancy but who had to continue carrying the non-viable embryo until the onset of sepsis, or other who had not received medical assistance during a miscarriage.
Family physician Caitlin Gustafson — who has already taken the case to the Idaho Supreme Court — argues that Idaho’s new law exception for medical emergencies is vague and impossible to interpret. “It would be very difficult, if not impossible, for me to implement the medical exception and provide care to a pregnant person whose life could be in danger”she explained, noting that certain serious pregnancy-related medical conditions such as preeclampsia could lead to death, but this cannot be guaranteed.
Kansas Abortion Referendum
Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little says the U.S. Supreme Court has given states the ability to regulate abortion, ” end of the story “. He promised to work with State Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to defend the new law.
« The interference of the United States Department of Justice in the “pro-life” law [en faveur de la vie, par opposition à l’avortement] from Idaho is another example of Biden going too far,” did he declare. Lawrence Wasden, also a Republican, said the complaint was “politically motivated” and said the Justice Department should have contacted Idaho within the past six weeks to resolve the issue.
Idaho Democratic Party Chairwoman Lauren Necochea praised the Justice Department’s action, saying Republican politicians in the state “would rather let a pregnancy kill a person than allow them to have an abortion.”
A dozen states have already banned abortions on their soil and, eventually, half of the fifty states should do so. A referendum on the subject, Tuesday in Kansas, will take the pulse of public opinion. Moments after the polls closed, Kansas election overseer Scott Schwab said turnout was at least 50%, a figure in line with expectations for this type of poll, local media reported. .