First, Department of Justice lawyers requested a two-month extension on Monday in a lawsuit seeking to reimpose outdated restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone — changes that would limit access nationwide by ending telemedicine prescriptions. There should be no need for an extension. It’s a case that the Biden DOJ asked a federal judge to dismiss in January after the Supreme Court decided last term that the original plaintiffs weren’t injured by the Food and Drug Administration’s actions on mifepristone and didn’t have legal standing to sue.
Next, the administration asked on Tuesday to participate in Supreme Court arguments alongside South Carolina in a case about whether states can exclude Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs, even for non-abortion services. South Carolina seeks to disqualify any abortion provider from Medicaid because it claims that “payment of taxpayer funds to abortion clinics, for any purpose, results in the subsidy of abortion.” Arguments are on April 2. If the Supreme Court sides with the state, it would mean people with Medicaid can’t use their insurance at Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers, which would decimate people’s access to affordable birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and more.
Finally, the administration dismissed a lawsuit on Wednesday that Biden’s DOJ had filed against Idaho because its abortion ban violates a federal law regarding care in emergency rooms. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires any hospital that receives federal funds, which is most of them, to provide stabilizing care to patients. For pregnant women facing complications like their water breaking too early, that care can include abortion. But Idaho’s abortion ban prohibits terminating a pregnancy unless someone’s life is at risk — threats to their health aren’t enough.