Trump Administration rescinds rule that sought to enforce EMTALA
The new guidelines say that the federal law mandating emergency abortions will not be enforced by departments responsible to do so.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rescinded guidelines introduced by President Joe Biden that said a federal law mandated medically necessary abortions in emergencies.
The agencies introduced the new rules on Tuesday. The previous ones had been established in July 2022. In a statement, CMS officials said they would continue to enforce the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which is the law in question.
“CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions,” it said in a news release.
In certain situations, like an ectopic pregnancy, abortions are a necessary procedure to preserve and maintain the mother’s health. Some who have faced complications but who haven’t been adequately cared for by obstetricians may show up in emergency settings to get what they need. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, EMTALA for short, stipulates that emergency staff must provide all required care, including abortions. The Biden Administration challenged an Idaho law known as the Defense of Life Act, which prohibits abortions unless they save the mother’s life.
Last year, the Supreme Court addressed this issue in Moyle v. United States. The court initially agreed to expedite the appeal and temporarily allowed Idaho to enforce its abortion ban.
After hearing the case, the court dismissed it as improvidently granted and restored a lower court order allowing emergency abortions under EMTALA.
This year, the Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit against the state of Idaho over its abortion ban, which President Joe Biden contended had conflicted with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, mandating abortions in life-saving situations in emergency rooms.
While the federal lawsuit was dropped, St. Luke’s Hospital in Idaho anticipated the move and filed a complaint in January that challenged the abortion ban on the same grounds. A judge ruled in the hospital’s favor in late March.
In December 2024, a U.S. Senate report further supported expert opinions that abortion bans have led to perilous situations for pregnant women who need emergency care involving abortions. It revealed that doctors throughout the country have said that they felt a chilling effect on their decisions regarding life-saving abortions in states where there are severe punishments for doing so in situations not permitted.
“The Committee’s investigation has further clarified that abortion bans create devastating patient and provider realities,” the report concluded. “The uncertainty and lack of clarity created by abortion bans and their conflict with EMTALA lead to substandard and deadly care during emergency reproductive health care episodes for pregnant people.”