The Biden administration is asserting that doctors must provide emergency abortions when necessary to save a pregnant woman’s health, a move that has ignited legal tensions with states that have enacted stringent abortion bans. The administration’s stance is outlined in a letter sent to medical professionals, emphasizing that hospitals have a legal responsibility to offer stabilizing treatment, which includes abortions, according to a report by The Associated Press.
The letter, penned by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, underscores the urgency of the matter, stating, “No pregnant woman or her family should have to even begin to worry that she could be denied the treatment she needs to stabilize her emergency medical condition in the emergency room.”
The administration’s directive stems from a Supreme Court ruling that determined doctors in Idaho must be permitted to perform emergency abortions, despite the state’s near-total ban, to comply with a federal law mandating emergency rooms to provide “stabilizing treatments” to critically ill patients. This ruling, in the consolidated cases Moyle v. U.S. and Idaho v. U.S., gained national attention following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had previously guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion.
The high court’s decision failed to resolve a legal dispute regarding whether state abortion restrictions override a federal law obligating hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment. The law cited by the Biden administration mandates that nearly all emergency rooms receiving Medicare funding must provide stabilizing treatment to patients in a medical emergency. Hospitals failing to comply could face federal investigations, substantial fines, and the loss of Medicare funding.
In Idaho, the enforcement of the federal law regarding emergency abortions was suspended in January when the state’s strict abortion ban took effect. The newly enacted Defense of Life Act criminalizes any medical provider performing an abortion, with exceptions only for cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk. Doctors performing an abortion could face prison sentences.
The Biden administration argues that the state law contradicts the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, a federal law requiring healthcare providers to provide “stabilizing treatment,” including abortions, when necessary to address an emergency medical condition, even if it conflicts with state abortion restrictions.
However, the state of Idaho contends that interpreting EMTALA as a federal abortion mandate raises serious concerns under the major questions doctrine, affecting both Congress and the Supreme Court. Advocates for the state’s abortion restrictions accuse the Biden administration of “subverting states’ rights,” referencing the Dobbs decision, which granted states the authority to regulate abortion access.
The legal dispute surrounding emergency abortion access highlights the complex and sensitive issues surrounding abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Biden administration’s directive underscores its commitment to safeguarding women’s health, even in states with restrictive abortion laws, while the legal battle with states demonstrates the ongoing struggle to balance federal authority with state autonomy on this critical issue.
