State House News Service | Healey: SCOTUS Ruling Leaves Pregnant Women In "Limbo"
By Alison Kutznitz | Originally Published by State House News Service
BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey warned of ongoing reproductive care threats to women across the country Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a closely watched case dealing with emergency abortions in Idaho.
Emergency abortions can continue for now in Idaho, as the thorny question is now tossed back to lower courts to weigh whether the state’s abortion ban conflicts with a federal law requiring hospitals to provide “stabilizing” care in emergency situations.
“The Supreme Court’s non-decision leaves millions of pregnant women in limbo, and allows anti-abortion extremists to continue their attack on emergency abortion care,” Healey said on social media late Thursday morning. “In Massachusetts, there’s no debate. We protect reproductive freedom and your right to the care you need.”
Bracing for the Supreme Court decision, Healey earlier this week signed an executive order affirming access to emergency abortion care in Massachusetts. The Department of Public Health also issued guidance warning that hospitals and providers could be disciplined for violating the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, and the Division of Insurance published bulletins reinforcing insurers’ requirements to cover abortion services.
“Today’s decision is an important reprieve that will allow pregnant people in Idaho to obtain an emergency abortion if their life or health is in serious jeopardy,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in a statement. “While I am grateful that Idaho’s draconian abortion ban will not bar emergency abortions in the near future, I want to be clear that more trouble appears to be on the horizon for emergency abortion access in many states. My office will continue our fight to ensure that everyone can access emergency abortion care in order to protect their lives and their health.”
Rebecca Hart Holder, president of advocacy organization Reproductive Equity Now, said the fight over emergency abortion care is “not over,” as she urged voters to elect “reproductive equity champions” this November.
“We know litigation in this case will continue in the coming months, and we would not be surprised to see this question before the Supreme Court again,” Hart Holder said. “It’s hard to celebrate this temporary relief because the question before the Court is so outrageous, insulting, and terrifying in the first place.”
