United States: Recently, the Biden administration issued a letter aiming to address hospitals, health provider groups, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
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The hospitals and doctors are reminded that it’s their legal duty to provide abortions to those who come with complex health-related situations. Therefore, with the letter, the Biden administration sent out an affirming message to make things clearer that patients’ health and lives are supreme. It came after the ruling of the Supreme Court, which allowed the current law to remain in place for now.
The letter also mentioned that the Supreme Court order did not entirely provide a solution for the quandary where health providers need to decide whether state abortion bans could supersede federal law or not.
The Court order was meant to allow health care providers to perform abortions in women of Idaho where a medical emergency arises, as the Hill reported.
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The letter stated, “No pregnant woman or her family should have to even begin to worry that she could be denied the treatment she needs to stabilize her emergency medical condition in the emergency room,” as Hill reported.
They added, “And yet, we have heard story after story describing the experiences of pregnant women presenting to hospital emergency departments with emergency medical conditions and being turned away because medical providers were uncertain about what treatment they were permitted to provide.”
The focal point of the case was the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which obliges hospitals funded by the federal government to provide stabilizing care to ER patients without considering the patient’s ability to pay.
After the SC decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, the EMTALA was rapidly invoked by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Further letters were also sent to the doctors, stating that they are needed to provide emergency abortions in case of need when the health of the women is at stake.
However, Idaho has argued for its nearly total abortion ban, which even overrides the federal obligations, taking the exception for life but not emergency health conditions.