Biden Administration Says Doctors Must Offer Abortion if Mother's Life is at Risk

The Biden administration told hospitals on Monday, July 11, that they must provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk, saying that federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban the procedure without any exceptions following the decision by the Supreme Court to end a constitutional right to abortion.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requirements on medical facilities, according to ABC News. The law requires medical facilities to determine whether a person who is seeking treatment may be in labor or whether they face an emergency health situation, or one that could develop into an emergency, and to provide them treatment.

The agency's guidance states that if a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by EMTALA, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that medical condition, the physician must provide that treatment.

Hospitals must provide abortion services to moms whose lives are at risk

The guidance added that when a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life of the pregnant person, or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA's emergency medical condition definition, then that state law is preempted.

The department said that emergency conditions include complications of pregnancy loss, ectopic pregnancy, or emergent hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia with severe features. Currently, even the states with the most rigid bans on abortion do allow exceptions when the health of a mom is at risk, though the threat of prosecution has created confusion for some doctors in those places.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote in a letter to health care providers that it is critical that providers know that a physician or other qualified medical personnel's legal and professional duty to provide stabilizing medical treatment to patients who present to the emergency department and are found to have emergency medical conditions preempts any directly conflicting state law or mandate that might otherwise prohibit such treatment.

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HHS says its guidance does not reflect new policy

The department also says that its guidance does not reflect new policy, but merely reminds doctors and providers of their existing obligations under the federal law.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure echoed that sentiment, saying that under federal law, providers in emergency situations are required to provide stabilizing care to persons with emergency medical conditions. That includes abortion care if necessary, regardless of the state where they live. She added that CMS will do everything within their authority to ensure that patients get the care they need.

Mississippi's trigger law, which went into effect on Thursday, says that abortion will only be legal in the state if the woman's life is in danger or if her pregnancy is caused by a rape that was reported to law enforcement, according to the Associated Press.

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