Communications Department
202.626.8825
mediarelations@nrlc.org

National Right to Life on the U.S. Supreme Court and EMTALA

Apr 24, 2024 | 2024 Press Releases, Press Releases, Press Room

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court today hears oral argument in Moyle v. United States (consolidated with Idaho v. United States) concerning the Biden Administration’s attempt to mandate abortion on demand throughout all fifty states in hospital emergency rooms.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted in 1986 and contains a duty to both a pregnant woman and her unborn child. The act never mentions abortion.

“The Biden Administration is attempting to twist the compassionate EMTALA law to push their radical agenda of unlimited abortion,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life (NRLC).

National Right to Life filed a friend of the court brief supporting Idaho’s pro-life law, Defense of Life Act.

NRLC’s brief argues that Biden’s attempt to force hospital emergency rooms to perform abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is contrary to that federal law which was only meant to protect emergency room patients from being dumped and does not mandate that the hospital provide medical care that is contrary to state law.

“Apparently, Joe Biden and his administration have determined that emergency rooms are no longer capable of providing care for both mother and child,” said Tobias. “The Biden Administration’s solution is to turn hospital emergency rooms into abortion facilities.” 

The U.S. Supreme Court docket for Moyle and Idaho (Nos. 23-726 and 23-727) is available here, and the NRLC brief is available on the docket here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.