The Trump administration this week rescinded Biden-era guidance attempting to force emergency room doctors to perform abortions.
The Biden administration attempted to require emergency room doctors to perform abortions under its own interpretation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA). After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had invented a constitutional right to abortion, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance in July 2022 claiming that EMTALA requires doctors to perform abortions on patients in emergency rooms when it is “the stabilizing treatment necessary” to help in a medical emergency. Under the guidance, hospitals not in compliance could lose funding and the ability to participate in Medicaid.
The Biden-era guidance was the subject of a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s Defense of Life Act that had reached the Supreme Court last year, which Attorney General Pam Bondi dropped in March.
EMTALA was ultimately written to prevent “patient dumping,” when hospitals refuse to treat patients who are unable to pay for emergency services. The law, as written by Congress, explicitly requires hospitals to provide stabilizing care for both pregnant women and their unborn babies in emergencies, regardless of whether they are able to pay for services, and makes no mention of abortion.
States with laws restricting abortions also already have exceptions for saving the life of the mother, enabling healthcare professionals to use “reasonable medical judgment” to take care of pregnant women in crisis.
Trump’s HHS and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the rescission on Tuesday, and said the agency will still enforce EMTALA as it was intended.
The agency said in a press release:
CMS will continue to enforce EMTALA, which protects all individuals who present to a hospital emergency department seeking examination or treatment, including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy. CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”
Pro-life organizations celebrated the move as a win for conscience protections.
“We applaud the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Biden-era EMTALA guidance that forced hospitals to perform abortions in emergencies — even in states where life-protecting laws are in place,” Heartbeat International said. “This move restores conscience protections for healthcare professionals and affirms that true medical care values both mother and child.”
“We are grateful for policies that honor life, uphold ethical standards in healthcare, and allow states to reflect their communities’ commitment to compassion and life-affirming care,” the organization continued.
President of SBA Pro-Life America Marjorie Dannenfelser called it “another win for life and truth — stopping Biden’s attack on emergency care for both pregnant moms and their unborn children.”
“It is a clear fact that pregnant women are protected under pro-life laws. Women can receive care for a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and any medical emergency in all 50 states,” she said. “Democrats have created confusion on this fact to justify their extremely unpopular agenda for all-trimester abortion. In situations where every minute counts, their lies lead to delayed care and put women in needless, unacceptable danger.”
Ingrid Skop, a board-certified OB-GYN who serves as vice president and director of medical affairs at Charlotte Lozier Institute, said, “The administration’s change in stance is welcome news for both of my patients — a pregnant woman and her unborn child — whose lives are both prioritized by EMTALA.
“This coercive effort by the prior administration to subvert existing laws to promote abortion was never necessary, as EMTALA has never been confusing for me or my obstetric peers,” Skop said. “Every state pro-life law already permitted physicians to intervene immediately in a pregnancy emergency to protect a woman’s life. Although I do not perform elective abortions, I have always been able to provide quality care in obstetric emergencies, seeking to preserve the lives of both mother and child.”
Pro-abortion groups are falsely characterizing the change as the Trump administration allowing women to die in emergency situations.
“The Trump Administration would rather women die in emergency rooms than receive life-saving abortions,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, claimed in a statement. “In pulling back guidance, this administration is feeding the fear and confusion that already exists at hospitals in every state where abortion is banned. Hospitals need more guidance, not less, to stop them from turning away patients experiencing pregnancy crises.”
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
