Abortion Care in Emergency Situations Is the Bare Minimum
Emergency rooms in Idaho can care for pregnant patients — for now.
Today, the United States Supreme Court dismissed Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States, the Idaho case that would have prevented pregnant people from accessing emergency abortion care.
Having to go into an emergency room can be stressful and scary. We deserve access to abortion care throughout pregnancy without worry that anti-abortion laws will keep us from getting the medical care we need.
Today brings a sigh of relief, but it’s not a victory: access to emergency care for pregnant people is the bare minimum, and the court did nothing to prevent attacks against pregnant people needing care from happening in the future or in other states. People deserve access to abortion care whenever and wherever they need it, and they should be able to trust that any provider they go to will give them the best care possible.
What’s more, debating the health and lives of pregnant people on a public stage year after year is dehumanizing and harmful, and denying people the healthcare they need is inhumane and dangerous. Our health and lives should always come first. Abortion bans jeopardize people’s health, safety, fertility, and lives — this kind of political interference has no place in medicine.
We deserve better than to have to keep fighting these exhausting, costly, dehumanizing battles. This decision leaves the door open for anti-abortion extremists to bring cases like this forward again, rather than affirming the right to emergency care. In the midst of overlapping human rights and public health crises for pregnant people, we should be able to focus our time on expanding access to reproductive health care, not defending against constant political attacks.
We believe that pregnant people deserve safe, respectful care throughout pregnancy, including access to abortion care no matter when, where, or why they need it. Well-funded anti-abortion extremists do not: they prioritize passing and enforcing unpopular and unsafe abortion bans that force providers to turn away pregnant people rather than providing health- and life-saving care.
Clinicians must be able to provide life- and health-saving abortion care in emergency situations; laws should never prohibit it, hospitals should always allow for it, and providers need to have the training and support necessary to be able to provide that care. In so many states, that training is provided at independent clinics.
Independent abortion clinics are essential healthcare centers and medical training sites. Throughout the country, independent abortion clinics are often the only place available for current and future clinicians to learn how to perform abortions. Medical providers sometimes travel thousands of miles to train in independent clinics — and as abortion bans force clinics to close, there are fewer and fewer places for medical students, residents, and clinicians to go.
Extremists can’t eliminate the need for abortions, but they’re working to make it impossible to access or provide that care. But we won’t stop fighting back.
Today and every day, we extend gratitude to those courageous people who continue to provide abortions, our love and support to people who need and have abortions. We stand resolute in our commitment to building a world where everyone has what they need to create the lives and families they dream of.
Abortion Care Network is dedicated to ensuring that independent abortion providers have the support they need to continue caring for all who need them. Help us support independent clinics across the country: abortioncarenetwork.org/donate