In his 2021 inaugural address, President Biden remarked, “The will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. We have learned again that democracy is precious.”

Then, a year later, this self-declared unifier sued my state for exercising democracy.

Idaho passed the Defense of Life Act in 2020 to protect the lives of women and their unborn children. The law officially became enforceable in June 2022, when the Supreme Court ruled Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the people and their elected representatives in the states have the power to pass pro-life laws. Idahoans stand to protect life, and our law is a reflection of their will.

But the Biden administration didn’t care. A couple of months after Dobbs gave this decision-making power back to the states, the administration manipulated a federal law to say we still don’t have that power. The Justice Department sued Idaho, claiming that a federal law – the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) – supersedes our own law and in fact even forces emergency room doctors to perform abortions.

This could not be further from the truth. EMTALA contains no provisions about abortion. In fact, that particular law requires emergency room physicians to care for pregnant women and their “unborn child[ren].” No conflict exists between Idaho’s law and EMTALA. A conflict does exist, however, between the will of the people of Idaho and the Biden administration’s adherence to an extreme abortion agenda.

EMTALA was passed to ensure that emergency rooms serve everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. The purpose of this law is to save lives, not to take them. Similarly, Idaho’s law ensures that mothers’ and children’s lives are protected. There is harmony between Idaho’s law and EMTALA, but the administration is attempting to sow discord. Rather than seek to save lives, it is twisting the law into something unrecognizable, all to endanger lives and unnecessarily burden emergency room staff.

Emergency room doctors in Idaho – and in every state, in fact – treat women who suffer from ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, and other life-threatening conditions. Doctors are bound by oath to protect their patients – every patient, including unborn children. The actions of the administration would force them to violate their oath and violate state law.

Because the administration is attempting to put its will above the people of Idaho, my office is standing in defense of our law. A lower court ruled against our ability to enforce our law, so we appealed that decision to the high court. Our efforts have already paid off. In January, the Supreme Court not only agreed to hear our case but also allowed us to enforce our law while the Court reviews the administration’s actions.

Make no mistake about it: Although Biden claims that his “whole soul” is in on uniting America, his administration is pushing an extreme agenda that is seeking to end lives rather than save them. His administration is attempting to use federal law to trump state law in direct opposition to the people of Idaho and legal precedent. Rather than respect democracy, Biden is kowtowing to abortion lobbyists, who stand to lose the most by allowing the unborn to have a chance at life.

With the help of the legal firms Alliance Defending Freedom and Cooper and Kirk – both of which have impressive track records at the U.S. Supreme Court – my office is working to uphold Idaho’s law. The Supreme Court heard our case Wednesday as we asked the court to end the Biden administration’s lawlessness and reckless disregard for life, women’s health, medical integrity, and democracy. A favorable ruling will uphold what Idaho’s law and EMTALA are both written to do: save lives.

Like conservatives across the state, we were excited to learn that U.S. Senate Kari Lake was coming to Idaho Falls.  She has become a leading voice in America for restoring integrity to our election system and for the values that made America the greatest nation in history.’

Imagine our profound disappointment, then, when we saw this heroine join the media mob in calling for an immediate “fix” to Arizona’s historic law protecting preborn children.  The law protecting preborn children from the horror of abortion was enacted by the people of Arizona before it became a state.  And it was reaffirmed by the people of that great state numerous times until the right to life was snatched away by the Roe Court in 1973.

Our heroine joined the mob in calling the law archaic, and in need of “improvement” – by which Mrs. Lake meant that more abortions should be made legal in Arizona.

But the right to Life is no more archaic than the right to bear arms or the right to freely exercise our faith.   These ancient values are the very foundation of our greatness as a people and nation.  They are gifts from our Creator. It is only through the recovery of these honored virtues that we can recover our greatness.

It is a shame that Mrs. Lake missed a great teaching opportunity.  Rather than respond in a panic to the supposed threat to her election hopes – she missed a chance to seize the moment by calling Arizona citizens to account and reflection.  This was an opportunity to expose what we have lost, and to appeal to the nature of our best selves. It was a genuine leadership moment.

We can only pray that, during her visit to Idaho Falls, Kari Lake will have time to reflect.  Perhaps some of the conservative leaders in eastern Idaho can help her find her way back.  Because if we cannot trust a politician to protect the most vulnerable among us when their ambitions might be at risk – how can we trust her to face the many torments of the great swamp that is Washington?