Two new Supreme Court cases ask if there is a right to medically necessary abortion
A federal law requires most hospitals to perform emergency abortions. The question is whether a Republican Supreme Court will enforce it. Read more at Vox
EMTALA
Idaho asks supreme court to decide on law penalizing abortion providers
In its first legal action to protect abortion access after Roe’s demise, the justice department in August 2022 sued Idaho over its law, claiming that it violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or Emtala. After Roe fell, the Biden administration issued guidance clarifying that Emtala, which requires hospitals that receive federal funding … Read more
Idaho Asks Supreme Court To Let It Fully Impose Punitive Abortion Ban During Appeal
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra published a memo shortly after the Dobbs decision reminding hospitals that EMTALA requires them to perform abortions as part of emergency stabilizing care. Idaho’s ban prohibits abortions except when necessary to prevent the pregnant woman’s death. Read more at Talking Points Memo
Fifth Circuit Panel Hostile To Abortion Mulls Another Sweeping Injunction From A Trump Judge
The case centers on the clash between state abortion bans and the longstanding Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The federal Department of Health and Human Services sent around a memo after Dobbs reminding providers of their obligations to perform abortions as part of emergency stabilizing care, which set off the legal squirmishes. Read … Read more
Appeals court lifts partial block on Idaho abortion ban
The ruling is a blow to the Biden administration’s effort to use a federal law mandating emergency room treatment to soften the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn the federal constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Read more at Politico
Women challenge abortion bans in three states after emergency care denied
Women who say they were denied abortions in medical emergencies have taken legal action in Idaho, Oklahoma and Tennessee, in the latest attempt to challenge abortion bans that, abortion patients and doctors say, prevent people from getting care even when their health is in danger. Read more at The Guardian
Texas temporary injunction allowing women with difficult pregnancies to have abortions – News Round-Up
Judge temporarily exempts women with complicated pregnancies from Texas abortion ban The temporary injunction will stand until the lawsuit against Texas is complete, unless a higher court intervenes. The injunction is expected to be appealed. Read more at NBC News Judge rules Texas’ abortion ban is too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications The court … Read more
Hospitals in Two States Denied an Abortion to a Miscarrying Patient. Investigators Say They Broke Federal Law.
Doctors told her she might die but she couldn’t have an abortion under state law until she got sicker, documents show. The Biden administration says failing to act violates a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care. Read more at Pro Publica
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) case
Feds: Hospitals that denied emergency abortion broke the law “It was dehumanizing. It was terrifying. It was horrible not to get the care to save your life,” Farmer, who lives in Joplin, said of her experience. “I felt like I was responsible to do something, to say something, to not have this happen again to … Read more
Missouri health department investigates hospital’s denial of emergency abortion
Missouri’s health department is investigating whether a hospital violated federal health care rules in denying a woman an emergency abortion, an agency spokeswoman confirmed Monday. Read more at NBC News