A federal judge denied Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s request to reconsider the order barring the state from prosecuting emergency room physicians for providing abortion care to stabilize a patient.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill made his initial decision to block part of Idaho’s ban on abortions in August, just before the ban went into effect, following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the state.
The Idaho Capital Sun reports, Idaho’s ban on abortion applies to all stages of pregnancy and makes exceptions only for documented cases of rape and incest or to save the pregnant person’s life.
The Justice Department argued that the ban conflicts with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Winmill ruled that the two laws were in conflict and the federal law superseded the state law.
