Lafayette Reporter

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, along with Rep. Russ Fulcher and over 100 other lawmakers, have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Idaho's Defense of Life Act in the cases Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States.

Kennedy expressed his concerns about the Biden administration's stance, stating, "The Biden administration’s case against Idaho’s Defense of Life Act is the president’s latest scheme to force his radical pro-abortion ideology on all Americans. Idaho requires doctors to protect the lives of mothers and their unborn children, and there’s no legal basis for the Biden administration to try to overrule a law that Idahoans passed democratically."

Risch also criticized the administration, saying, "Idahoans have passed a strong law to protect the lives of mothers and the unborn, yet the Biden administration is seeking every opportunity to expand abortion. This administration cherrypicked pieces of existing statute and wrongfully reinterpreted it to fit their agenda. Their manipulation of federal law cannot usurp state law, and there is no federal right to an abortion."

The amicus brief argues against the Biden administration's interpretation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which the administration claims overrides pro-life state laws and requires doctors to perform abortions in certain situations. The lawmakers contend that EMTALA does not mention abortion and actually mandates treatment for both a mother and her unborn child.

The brief also references the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, emphasizing that there is no constitutional right to abortion.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roger Wicker, Marco Rubio, and many others, as well as over 93 members of the House of Representatives, have joined the amicus brief in support of Idaho's pro-life law.

The amicus brief can be accessed on the official website for further review.