President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is making moves to safeguard unborn life at the state level, where a gritty, multi-year legal fight tells the tale.

For Idaho, it all began when the state passed the “Defense of Life Act” in 2022. In effect, the law sought to protect the unborn from all abortions with few exceptions: “cases when the mother’s life is in danger or cases of rape and incest.” However, the Biden administration took issue with this pro-life law and filed a lawsuit against the state. They challenged the Act for being “too strict.” Idaho officials disagreed, arguing that the law was careful to protect both children and mothers. While the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in April 2024, the justices ultimately sent the decision back to the lower courts.

Now, after years of legal tug-of-war, Trump’s DOJ is stepping in. Standing with Idaho and with life, they moved to drop the Biden lawsuit and allow the state’s pro-life protections to take effect. But in a twist, St. Luke’s Health System, Idaho’s biggest hospital, is complicating matters.

St. Luke’s Health System in Boise felt the Defense of Life Act put their medical professionals in a bind by not allowing them to confidently perform their duties in emergency situations. Before the Trump team’s intervention, they had sided with the Biden administration that the law came in conflict with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals to commit abortions in a crisis situation. To keep the Trump administration from interfering in their case, St. Luke’s sued Idaho in January to keep the lawsuit alive. 

This month, they responded to the new DOJ’s intentions to drop the case with a court filing, which detailed both what Justice officials told them as well as their next steps. According to the hospital’s attorneys, “In light of these developments, St. Luke’s respectfully moves for a temporary restraining order (‘TRO’) to maintain the status quo until such time as the Court issues its decision on the pending Motion for a Preliminary Injunction.”

While St. Luke’s actions wouldn’t necessarily block the DOJ from dropping the case, it does raise new questions. On Tuesday, St. Luke’s both requested and was granted the TRO, putting a pause on Idaho’s law. Now, a hearing is set to take place about the future of the law now that the president’s team has sided with the state.

While the situation has gotten somewhat muddled in Idaho, pro-lifers are applauding the Trump’s administration public stand for life. And the president’s impact isn’t just being felt in the Gem State, but in others as well.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is highlighting a case in South Carolina, where the state has “determined that Planned Parenthood was not qualified to receive taxpayer funding under its Medicaid program,” sparking a legal challenge.

A federal district judge immediately pushed back, attempting to force South Carolina to restore funding to the abortion giant. But since the judge’s ruling, South Carolina has been joined by the Trump DOJ as well as 18 states in submitting a friend-of-the-court brief to SCOTUS defending the law.

As ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch said, “Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund facilities that profit off abortion. State officials should be free to determine that Planned Parenthood and other entities that peddle abortion aren’t qualified to receive taxpayer funding through Medicaid.” As he went on to say, “We commend the many government officials, pro-life advocates, and medical professionals who are joining us in urging the Supreme Court to restore the ability of states to steward limited public resources to best serve their citizens.”

On the Trump administration’s bold stance for life, Family Research Council’s Quena Gonzalez told The Washington Stand, “Every human life is of incalculable worth, and every abortion is a miscarriage of justice.” Ultimately, he added, “the injustice is compounded when hundreds of millions of Americans are forced to subsidize abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.”

Gonzalez, who leads FRC’s Government Affairs department, emphasized that “it’s heartening to see the Trump Department of Justice reverse the Biden administration’s policy of blocking pro-life states that are trying to take taxpayer dollars away from abortion providers. The second-largest source of federal funding for America’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is Medicaid, and for years states have battled the federal government to redirect Medicaid in their states to actually help mothers and children.”

Gonzalez praised Trump’s team for “hitting the ground running this year” and helping to ensure “pro-life states will now have help from the federal government instead of having to fight it in court.”