The Biden administration is telling hospitals that they must provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk.
It says federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that ban the procedure without any exceptions following the Supreme Court’s decision to end a constitutional right to abortion last month.
Currently, even states with the most stringent bans on abortion allow exceptions when the health of a mother is at risk, though the threat of prosecution has created confusion for some doctors.
The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday cited the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). It requires medical facilities to determine whether a person 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 treatment.
The department says its guidance doesn’t reflect new policy, but merely reminds doctors and providers of their existing obligations under federal law.
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