The State of Idaho v. United States of America case involves a dispute on the relationship between the State of Idaho’s pro-life Defense of Life Act and the federal government’s law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
In 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which ensured that hospitals could not deny emergency care to individuals due to an inability to pay, requiring them to treat and/or stabilize all patients.
- Originally, EMTALA was designed to ensure hospitals that receive Medicare funding provide emergency care to stabilize patients for transfer to another hospital, regardless of ability to pay.
- The law specifically provides that both the mother and the “unborn child” are viewed as patients who must be stabilized and cared for. In extreme cases where the mother’s life is at risk, an abortion may be provided under EMTALA where there is no other option.
The Biden administration is attempting to overturn Idaho’s pro-life law by arguing it violates EMTALA. However, both laws seek to protect and safeguard life; the Biden administration is attempting to pit these two laws against one another.
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Jeff Strickland is working to help plant The Fields Church in Westfield, Indiana, just north of Indianapolis. The city famous for fast cars is in great spiritual need.
Strickland is asking believers to pray that he and the church planting team are bold as they share the good news with their neighbors.
He says they need God’s help to provide stamina and perseverance in the work. Let’s pray with these folks as they plant The Fields Church.
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Southern Seminary professor Jason Thacker says believers must flip the script when it comes to the abortion debate following the Roe vs. Wade decision. Thacker writes,
“Many pro-life advocates rightly recognize that the abortion debate often comes down to a particular question: is the preborn child actually a human being? At the core of, most if not all, contentious debates in society is this fundamental question of what it means to be human. In the abortion debate, we see this question framed often as asking if the fetus in the womb is truly human and thus deserving of our respect and protection.
“One vital aspect of flipping the script in this debate is pursuing richer engagement with the robust biblical, theological, and philosophical principles that undergird our Christian pro-life ethic. This necessarily entails understanding and articulating reasoned and robust arguments for the dignity and inestimable value of every human being, no matter the stage of development or location.”
Thacker serves as a research fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
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