The Trump administration formally revoked a crucial directive in place under President Joe Biden on Tuesday, which ordered hospitals to perform abortion services for medical emergencies, even in states with stringent abortion bans.
The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released that the 2022 guidance, which applied the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to supersede state bans on abortion, is no longer the policy of the current administration. CMS, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, said it seeks to “correct any perceived legal uncertainty and instability caused by the previous administration’s actions.”
Originally issued in July 2022, the Biden-era guidance came in response to the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had protected abortion rights nationwide for nearly 50 years. The guidance reminded healthcare providers of their legal obligations under EMTALA to deliver emergency stabilizing care including abortion when necessary, regardless of a patient’s financial status or state laws prohibiting the procedure.
The advice held that EMTALA preempted state bans on abortions that did not contain exceptions for medical emergencies and required physicians to do abortions if they were necessary to preserve the life or health of an expectant patient.
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice filed a suit against Idaho soon after it issued the directive, asking to prevent Idaho from enforcing its almost complete abortion ban in emergency situations. A federal judge initially banned the state from enforcing the ban in such situations.
But the Trump administration relinquished that lawsuit in March, essentially removing the injunction. Idaho’s prohibition is still on hold in emergency cases, though, because of a different ongoing lawsuit filed by a hospital system.
The action represents a major repeal of federal abortion access protections in emergency medical care under the Trump administration.
