This article is more than 2 months old

Law protecting women seeking emergency abortions is a target in US Supreme Court case article is more than 2 months old Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act is at the heart of the court’s latest blockbuster abortion case, which comes out of Idaho
Mylissa Farmer’s pregnancy was doomed. But no one would help her end it.Over a few days in August 2022, Farmer visited two hospitals in Missouri and Kansas, where doctors agreed that because the 41-year-old’s water had broken just 18 weeks into her pregnancy, there was no chance that she would give birth to a healthy baby. Continuing the pregnancy could risk Farmer’s health and life – yet the doctors could not act. Weeks earlier, the US Supreme Court had overturned Roe v Wade and abolished the national right to abortion. It was legal counsel at one hospital determined, it “too risky in this heated political environment to intervene”, according to legal filings. In immense pain and anguish, Farmer ultimately traveled several hours to Illinois, where abortion is legal. There, doctors were able to end her pregnancy.