ATTORNEY GENERAL MATT PLATKIN
“There is nothing pro-life about denying emergency medical treatment to a patient who needs it. Today’s Supreme Court decision is a victory for the people of Idaho, who, for the time being, will no longer need to be airlifted out of the state to get treated for serious pregnancy complications. And it’s a victory for evidence-based medicine. Judges and lawyers should never be the ones to dictate whether a patient should become septic, or determine how much blood they are allowed to hemorrhage, before a physician is allowed to proceed with an abortion.
“Thankfully, here in New Jersey, patients do not have to face horrific health consequences or risk death if they need an abortion. Here, providers are safe to practice medicine. I expect anti-abortion extremists will be back with more legal challenges to basic medicine, but when they do, my colleagues and I in the Reproductive Rights Strike Force are prepared to keep fighting to protect reproductive rights in New Jersey and across the country.”
REP. MIKIE SHERRILL
“Women should not need to be on their deathbed to receive an abortion. Today’s Supreme Court decision fails to provide protections for basic women’s healthcare and underscores the urgent need to protect women’s access to lifesaving, emergency abortion care nationwide. Let’s be absolutely clear: This is a political decision by the MAGA majority on the Supreme Court to punt a major abortion decision until after the election. Women deserve abortion protections now – with no delay.”
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE SUE ALTMAN
“While today’s decision will allow patients in Idaho to access emergency abortions, it is a chilling reminder of the all out war extremists are waging on women and the immediate, far-reaching threats we face to our reproductive rights and healthcare choices. Draconian laws that don’t allow abortions even when a mother’s health is in danger should be struck down decisively. If Republicans like (Tom Kean) won’t fight to uphold the health and safety of women, then it’s time to elect leaders who will ensure we protect these fundamental rights at the federal level.”
U.S. SENATOR CORY BOOKER
“Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) nearly 40 years ago to ensure that every American, no matter what state they live in, gets the emergency care they need, including abortion services. Essential medical care should never be politicized, yet extreme politicians took this dispute all the way up to the Supreme Court to ban doctors from providing stabilizing emergency medical care to pregnant people. The consequences of their actions have been terrifying—at least six women experiencing life-threatening pregnancy complications in Idaho had to be airlifted to neighboring states for care while numerous obstetricians and doctors who address high-risk pregnancies stopped practicing in the state altogether.
“Today’s dismissal offers only a short-term respite in one state. Emergency abortion care will be temporarily restored in Idaho, but abortion bans across our nation that were put in place after a conservative Supreme Court majority reversed Roe v. Wade two years ago will continue to put people’s lives at risk every single day. Doctors will continue to face the impossible task of deciding whether their patient is close enough to death before they can intervene.
“We must not let today’s decision, or lack thereof, endanger the lives of pregnant people across the nation. Congress must act urgently to restore a nationwide right to abortion and ensure no one is denied their fundamental right to reproductive health care.”