WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: An activist with The Center for Popular Democracy Action holds a photo of U.S. Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito as they block an intersection during a demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on December 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Court heard arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, a case about a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks. With the addition of conservative justices to the court by former President Donald Trump, experts believe this could be the most important abortion case in decades and could undermine or overturn Roe v. Wade. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the Trump administration rescinded health guidance that the Biden administration established in 2022. Hospitals are no longer advised to provide emergency abortions for women when it is necessary for their medical stability and safety.
When the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in 2022 and granted individual states the right to set their own abortion laws, the Biden administration responded by advising the nation’s emergency room doctors to perform abortions if necessary to save the life and health of a pregnant woman.
In a letter sent by then Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, hospital staff were informed that “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 argued that the right to an emergency abortion was protected by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA).
As of earlier this month this policy is no longer being enforced, and pregnant women living in states with strict abortion bans have been stripped of their access to stabilizing procedures.
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Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said that “the Trump Administration would rather women die in emergency rooms than receive life-saving abortions. In pulling back guidance, this administration is feeding the fear and confusion that already exists at hospitals in every state where abortion is banned.”
Northup concluded her statement by explaining hospitals need more guidance, not less, when it comes to assisting patients having pregnancy crises. Otherwise, patients in need of medical attention will continue to be turned away.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced they will continue to enforce EMTALA, but the guidance and letter provided in 2022 by Biden does not reflect the current administration’s policy.
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