Trump launches fresh attacks on US abortion rights

The Trump administration fired off a series of dramatic attacks on abortion rights on Tuesday, as it signaled its plan to to drop out of a case defending access to emergency abortions while asking the US supreme court for permission to join a case against the abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

The justice department said it would move to dismiss the case over emergency abortions, which had been originally filed by the Biden administration, according to court papers filed by the largest hospital network in Idaho. The Biden administration had sued Idaho over its near-total abortion ban, which it accused of running afoul of a federal law that protects patients’ right to health care in emergencies.

The dismissal could come as soon as Wednesday, St Luke’s Health System wrote in a court filing. The hospital has previously said that Idaho’s ban forced its providers to fly women out of state for emergency care.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has filed paperwork asking the US supreme court to let it join the upcoming oral arguments in a case over South Carolina’s attempt to eradicate Medicaid funding for medical services offered by Planned Parenthood.

Although it is already illegal to use federal dollars to pay for abortions, South Carolina’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster, ordered the state department of health to block Planned Parenthood from Medicaid because, McMaster said, “payment of taxpayer funds to abortion clinics, for any purpose, results in the subsidy of abortion and the denial of the right to life”.

The Trump administration hopes to help defend South Carolina’s actions, asking for 10 minutes of the April oral arguments’ running time. South Carolina is being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a powerhouse Christian legal group that was the architect of much of the conservative attack on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

Under Medicaid rules, patients may choose to see any provider who is qualified to treat them. Planned Parenthood typically provides an array of reproductive and sexual health services, such as STI testing and birth control. South Carolina also bans abortions past six weeks of pregnancy – before many women even realize they are pregnant.

These moves appear to mark some of the administration’s first major actions on abortion. In his first term, Donald Trump appointed many of the supreme court justices who voted to overturn the nationwide right to abortion in 2022.

“The Trump administration has made clear they would let women die rather than get an abortion,” Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer at the ACLU, said in a statement after news of the Idaho filing broke.

“On the campaign trail, President Trump repeatedly promised not to interfere with women’s ability to access abortion and patients’ ability to get the care they need. His failure to keep that promise, six weeks into his administration, goes against the will of the vast majority of people in this country who want and expect their loved ones to be able to get the care they need at a hospital.”

The Tuesday filing from St Luke’s came as the hospital seeks a court order allowing doctors to continue providing abortions in emergency situations as they deem necessary. Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from US emergency rooms spiked after the overturning of Roe v Wade amid questions about what care they could legally provide, federal records showed.

The supreme court stepped into the Idaho case last year and ultimately handed down a narrow ruling that allowed hospitals to continue performing emergency abortions as doctors deemed necessary.

The high court did not, however, resolve key legal questions in the case, and it was argued before the ninth US circuit court of appeals in December. The appeals court has not yet ruled, but Idaho has argued that its state law allows for abortions in life-threatening situations and that the Biden administration was trying to improperly expand its exceptions.

A justice department spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Idaho officials also did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

“This case is about preserving South Carolina’s authority to govern itself in a way that aligns with the law and our state’s values,” Brandon Charochak, a spokesperson for McMaster, said in a statement. “Governor McMaster thanks the Trump administration for defending our ability to protect life.”

“Governor McMaster welcomes and appreciates the Trump administration’s support in Medina v Planned Parenthood. This case is about preserving South Carolina’s authority to govern itself in a way that aligns with the law and our state’s values. Governor McMaster thanks the Trump administration for defending our ability to protect life.”

About 50,000 people in the US develop life-threatening pregnancy complications each year, including major blood loss, sepsis or the loss of reproductive organs. In rare cases, doctors might need to terminate a pregnancy to protect the health of the pregnant person, especially in cases where there is no chance for a fetus to survive.

Before the court blocked the state from enforcing the ban in health-threatening emergencies, some Idaho doctors reported that pregnant women were facing delays in care and in some cases being flown to out-of-state hospitals for treatment they would have previously been able to get at home.

Most Republican-controlled states have started enforcing new bans or restrictions since 2022. Currently, 12 states are enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions, and four have bans that kick in at or about six weeks into pregnancy.