S5, Ep. 28: Conscience protections in SCOTUS abortion cases

Respecting Religion

How do religion and religious freedom arguments interact with cases about abortion access? The legal landscape here is beyond complex, and in this episode, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman look at how conscience protections were discussed in two recent Supreme Court cases about abortion. There is a deepening religion and policy conversation in our country, and they discuss how that conversation is reflected in these oral arguments – from Church Amendments to the doctrine of preemption.

SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 00:38): U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

Amanda and Holly discussed state laws after the Dobbs decision two weeks ago – in episode 26 of season 5: Archaic laws and new theories emerge from state abortion debates

Learn more about the Arizona legislature’s repeal of the 1864 law in this article by Stacey Barchenger and Ray Stern in the Arizona Republic: Arizona abortion ban repeal signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, but 1864 law will linger for months. What’s next?

Learn more about the 6-week ban on abortions in Florida in this article by Stephanie Colombini for NPR: Florida’s 6-week abortion ban is now in effect, curbing access across the South

We played a series of clips from the oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which the Supreme Court heard on March 26, 2024. You can hear the audio at this link. The clips we played featured:

• Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar (from 00:00:48 into the arguments)
• Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar (from 00:28:31 into the arguments)
• Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar (from 00:29:11 into the argument)
• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Attorney Erin Hawley (from 01:16:40 into the argument)

Read an overview of conscience protections from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at this link.

Segment 2 (starting at 19:26): Moyle v. United States

Moyle v. United States is a consolidated case with Idaho v. United States.

“EMTALA” stands for “Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.” Read what the American Medical Association says about the case and EMTALA at this link.

We played a series of clips from the oral arguments in Moyle v. United States, which the Supreme Court heard on April 24, 2024. You can hear the audio at this link. The clips we played featured:

• Justice Elena Kagan and Attorney Joshua Turner (from 00:06:09 into the argument)
• Attorney Joshua Turner and Justice Elena Kagan (from 00:08:02 into the argument)
• Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Attorney Joshua Turner (from 00:23:54 into the argument)
• Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Attorney Joshua Turner (from 00:48:43 into the argument)

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