The U.S. Supreme Court is set this month to hear arguments involving a pro-life law in Idaho that makes it a crime for medical professionals to perform abortions. The decision will likely play a role in the upcoming presidential and congressional races in November.

In 2022, the Biden administration sued Idaho over its Defense of Life Act, which went into effect after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The act makes abortion a felony punishable with jail time for two to five years. It also temporarily suspends the license of the person who performs the procedure. The law notably allows for abortion if the mother’s life is at risk. It also provides an exception for incest and rape.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has argued that the Defense of Life Act prevents women from receiving “emergency” care for medical complications that can be solved with an abortion.

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador, in conjunction with the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Cooper & Kirk law firm, filed the state’s opening brief for the case in February.

“Idaho’s law is perfectly consistent with [the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act], which provides explicit protections for ‘unborn children’ in four separate places,” Labrador remarked.

He also called on the court to “end the administration’s unlawful overreach and to respect the people of Idaho’s decision to protect life.”

In August 2022, the Defense of Life Act was ruled to be in violation of the 1986 federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires hospitals to provide “necessary stabilizing treatment.” The Biden administration argues such “treatments” include abortions.

Planned Parenthood also sued the state with a trio of lawsuits, predictably arguing that the measure does not allow for a right to privacy. But the Idaho Supreme Court decided against them in 2023.

“The Idaho Constitution, as it currently stands, does not include a fundamental right to abortion,” Justice Robyn Brody wrote for the majority in a decision that saw only two dissenters.

Blaine Conzatti, the president of Idaho Family Policy Center, praised the ruling, observing that it was “a great day for precious preborn babies.”

In January of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay regarding the 2022 decision after lower circuit courts released competing rulings. The move temporarily allows the Defense of Life Act to go into effect until the court hears oral arguments this month.

As previously reported by Rachel N. Morrison, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act only preempts state law if it “directly conflicts” with it.

“At its heart, EMTALA is a pro-life law; it mentions ‘unborn child’ four times and imposes a duty to care for the child as well as the mother,” she writes. “Significantly, EMTALA does not mandate any medical treatment, especially abortion.”

The Supreme Court’s decision is due in June. If the justices side with Idaho, the Biden administration will be handed a significant defeat ahead of election season. The president promised in his State of the Union address last month that he wants to “restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.”

At the same time, a ruling against the Biden administration could have the effect of animating Democrats, who have thus far found abortion to be a winning issue for them, to get out and vote. It would also hand pro-lifers a much-needed victory that gives them hope in a post-Roe world that has seen an alarming number of conservatives and Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, continuing to be moderate on the issue.