OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington state’s attorney general has joined a coalition of other states in support of the federal government’s lawsuit against Idaho’s abortion ban.
Bob Ferguson has joined 20 other attorneys general in filing a court brief in support of the Justice Department’s challenge.
The lawsuit claims that Idaho’s law does not have adequate exemptions to protect emergency, lifesaving treatment for pregnant people.
The federal Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act requires hospitals to provide emergency care to all, including abortion if necessary.
Ferguson says Washington residents in Idaho could be illegally denied emergency care because of the law.
And he says it will drive more Idaho residents to seek abortions in Washington.