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3d ago

Trump Administration Rescinds EMTALA Emergency Abortion Guidance

Healthcare providers warn the guidance rollback may fuel legal uncertainty in restrictive states, endangering pregnant patients in medical emergencies.

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An operating room is pictured at Camelback Family Planning, an abortion clinic in Phoenix, Arizona on April 18, 2024. Arizona's abortion laws are in flux.In making its ruling this month, the state's supreme court said since the 2022 overturning of Roe vs. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide, Arizona's own arrangements had to revert to a 160-year-old statute, drafted before it was even a state and when women did not have the right to vote.

Overview

  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services withdrew the Biden administration’s 2022 directive clarifying that EMTALA preempts state abortion bans by requiring emergency abortions to stabilize patients.
  • Officials emphasized that EMTALA’s stabilizing treatment requirement remains in force but removed explicit federal assurances for abortion care in crises.
  • Medical groups and abortion rights advocates caution that the policy shift will sow confusion among physicians and could delay life-saving treatment for pregnant people.
  • Anti-abortion organizations celebrated the decision as a victory, and the administration earlier dropped its lawsuit challenging Idaho’s near-total abortion ban.
  • Illinois state leaders quickly reinforced their own emergency care law to ensure hospitals continue providing abortions when necessary to protect women’s health.