Attorney General Todd Rokita is fighting efforts by the federal government to ride roughshod over state laws protecting human life and prohibiting abortions.
This week, Attorney General Rokita is supporting Idaho as it argues before the Supreme Court to protect its Defense of Life Act from preemption under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). In February, General Rokita led a 22-state amicus brief backing Idaho’s common-sense stance.
“Hoosiers know that when federal bureaucrats come after pro-life laws in Idaho or any other state, they will soon be coming after pro-life laws here in Indiana,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Under the Biden administration, the federal government remains determined to advance a pro-abortion culture of death — and it’s perfectly willing to usurp states’ rights in order to do so.”
Under the U.S. system of federalism, the power to regulate health, safety and medicine rests largely with the states. And in the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion to the states as well — overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Federal attorneys, however, claim EMTALA allows emergency room physicians to ignore state medical regulations whenever they think it necessary to do so — including by performing abortions that are otherwise banned. In reality, however, EMTALA nowhere mentions the topic of abortion — and was never intended to be construed as the federal government now claims.
“The law is on our side,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Here in Indiana and across the nation, we can continue building a culture of life that respects the precious value not only of unborn children but also their moms and dads. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
