The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is rescinding a Biden administration-era policy that told health providers who perform emergency abortions that they're protected under federal law, even in states with abortion restrictions.
The July 2022 directive by former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, which followed shortly after the Supreme Court's decision ending the federal right to abortions, stated that if a physician believes a pregnant woman is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and an abortion is the stabilizing treatment, the physician must abort the baby, regardless of the state law.
CMS, whose administrator is Dr. Mehmet Oz, said in a news release Tuesday that Becerra's guidelines "do not reflect the policy of this administration."
"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," the agency said. "CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration's actions."
EMTALA was enacted in 1986 in response to emergency rooms refusing to treat patients who could not pay. There is no mention of abortion in the law. The requirement to provide stabilizing care for a pregnant woman and her "unborn child" is mentioned more than once.
"Led by Dr. Oz, the Trump administration has delivered another win for life and truth — stopping [former President Joe] Biden's attack on emergency care for both pregnant moms and their unborn children," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement. "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. 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."
Thirteen states have banned abortions, and seven others have restrictions within the first 18 weeks of conception, but all include exceptions to save the life of the mother, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion advocacy group.
Amy Friedrich-Karnik, director of federal policy at the Guttmacher institute, told Axios that CMS's decision "shows a callous disregard for the law and people's lives," especially in the wake of the Supreme Court's June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
"EMTALA's importance has only increased as our nation reckons with the fallout from the Dobbs decision, which has led to a fractured and chaotic abortion access landscape," she said.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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