Idaho
US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Idaho abortion ban case
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case concerning whether a 1986 federal law preempts Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. The Idaho statute criminalizes performing or attempting to perform an abortion unless not doing so would result in the mother’s death. The Biden administration argues that the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) preempts the Idaho law. The case is an appeal from a Ninth Circuit decision that halted Idaho’s ban.
Attorney Joshua Turner argued on behalf of the petitioners. Turner asserted that states are responsible for licensing doctors and setting the scope of their professional practice and that the Biden administration misreads EMTALA. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson wrestled with Turner on the scope of EMTALA and what it tells hospitals to do.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed Turner on what the Idaho law tells doctors to do in an emergency. Sotomayor also compared the Idaho law with real-life scenarios, including a situation in Florida where a woman was denied medical care when she was experiencing pregnancy complications because the doctors could not conclude that she would die from the complication. The next day, the woman experienced bleeding, and doctors treated her because she could have died from the bleeding. Justice Amy Coney Barrett also asked how the Idaho law would impact a woman in this scenario.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued on behalf of the US. Prelogar asserted that Idaho cannot criminalize the medical care that EMTALA requires. Justice Samuel Alito asked Prelogar how EMTALA’s standard of care impacts women at different stages of their pregnancy differently. Additionally, Alito had Prelogar define several terms with EMTALA to better understand the standard it sets for hospitals treating patients in emergency scenarios, including “serious jeopardy.” Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned Prelogar on the scope of Congress’s spending power and if this limits EMTALA’s ability to regulate hospitals. Lastly, Chief Justice John Roberts asked Prelogar if EMTALA requires religiously affiliated hospitals to perform abortions, to which Prelogar responded, “No.”
EMTALA sets conditions for hospitals to receive Medicare funds and mandates that hospitals have to “stabilize” patients with emergency conditions in hospitals.
In response to the arguments, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated:
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) plays a critical role in ensuring that patients across the country have access to emergency medical care and lifesaving interventions. For pregnant people, abortion may be the lifesaving intervention needed. It is therefore essential that abortion care be covered by the federal protections afforded by EMTALA. We urge the Supreme Court to preserve EMTALA’s protections for emergency abortion care even in states where abortion is otherwise banned or restricted.
Abortion continues to be a divisive issue in the US since the 2022 US Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. There, the court ruled that abortion was not a constitutional right but a state-level issue, laying the foundation for states to ban abortion entirely or at specific gestational milestones. Earlier this month, Arizona’s Supreme Court found that a 159-year-old law prohibiting abortion is enforceable. After this, the Arizona House of Representatives erupted into chants of “shame” after Republican members voted to adjourn instead of discussing a bill that would repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban.
The Idaho State Police say that Robert Giesick, 40, from Billings is the man missing in a crash on State Highway 55 near Cascade, about 80 miles north of Boise.
A pick-up truck driven by Giesick ended up in the Payette River after a head-on crash with another pick-up truck.
Watch Idaho crash story here:
Idaho state troopers identify Billings man missing in traffic accident
“I was able to find some people that saw a male, an adult man, swimming for the shore from the truck,” said Idaho State Trooper Richard Knapp, who attempted to rescue Giesick. “Unfortunately he didn’t make it. He got swept downriver. Witnesses lost sight of him, and that was the last time anybody saw him.”
Knapp says search crews looked extensively for the 40-year-old, but after 24 hours, it became a recovery effort for the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit.
After that on Monday came the monumental task of removing the pickup truck from the raging water.
“It was an intensive a recovery, honestly, our operators were tested, their knowledge was tested,” said Mark Boisvert, Code Red Towing owner. “They said it was a very extreme recovery for them, more than usual.”
Idaho business owners have less than a month to decide how to comply with a new state law criminally banning trans people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity.
The law is set to take effect July 1, which would make it a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses within five years.
It’s currently being challenged in federal court by the ACLU of Idaho.
On Tuesday, a panel sponsored by Idaho Employment Lawyers encouraged companies to prepare now as if the law will remain in effect as litigation continues.
Cody Earl, a lawyer for St. Luke’s Health System who spoke on the panel in his personal capacity, said there are several paths businesses can take.
Converting all bathrooms into single-use, gender-neutral facilities is one option, though it could be costly for larger businesses. Earl said companies could take other steps to make the transition more affordable.
“Even if it is a gender-specific restroom, [adding signage] that indicates where the closest gender-neutral restroom is so you could at least show that you’re giving employees an option or a choice,” he said.
Simply adding locks and only allowing one person at a time to a multi-stall bathroom is another choice, though panelists said that could be problematic for businesses with large amounts of customers, like restaurants and bars.
Idaho Employment Lawyers owner Pam Howland said companies also need to consider how this will affect their staff.
“This could definitely create some culture issues,” said Howland. “Do you have the policies you need to ensure your expectations as an employer of respect and civility are being followed? Possibly code of conduct provisions related to that? How about privacy?”
Those policies could include limiting or outright banning recording at the workplace.
Another legal wrinkle to complying with the law, the panel said, is that precedent in both the U.S. Supreme Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals prohibit discrimination based on someone’s gender identity.
Gender dysphoria, a mental health designation that causes severe distress to someone when their sex doesn’t align with their gender identity, has been considered a protected condition under the Americans with Disabilities Act in certain cases.
Republican state lawmakers argued earlier this year that Idaho needs to take this first-in-the-nation step to protect women and girls when they use the restroom in private businesses.
A 2025 study out of UCLA hasn’t found any increased risk to safety by allowing transgender people to use restrooms aligning with their gender identity.
A federal court in Boise will hear arguments over whether to approve or reject a preliminary injunction on June 5.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
Remember that 250 years ago, nobody had ever heard of Idaho, and the name was mostly made up by an entrepreneur who impressed the federal government with an exaggeration about his knowledge of indigenous culture. But a large number of people who live in the state can trace ancestry to the colonial era, and I believe most Americans still have a love of country, even if some polls give an indication they may not quite know how to express it.
I Was at the Heart of the Bicentennial
Looking back 50 years, I was in Washington, D.C. at the beginning of July. Washington also didn’t exist in 1776. My memory is that its reputation as a hot, sticky swamp was well earned. I traveled there with a history club from school. On a rattling old yellow bus. The city was packed, and many of the people on the streets were foreign tourists. It told me that despite the anti-Americanism common on streets elsewhere around the world, we were still fascinating others.
We’re Still One Nation
1976 was a unifying experience and followed a very turbulent previous 15 years. Some people fear the 250th jubilee won’t bring us together. Look, those rent-a-mobs you see on TV and online are actually a small fraction of America. Picnics in the park don’t make news. Riots and tear gas get the attention of newsrooms. There are still far more picnics.
The recent Memorial Day commemorations were reverential. Independence Day 2026 is going to be a party. The media focus will be on President Trump and a festival far away. Meanwhile, across Idaho, grills will be fired up, and we’ll be proud to be Americans.
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