The Trump administration has rescinded a rule instituted by the Biden administration to require that hospital emergency rooms provide abortions despite any state-level restrictions.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Tuesday the rescission of a July 2022 guidance on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
“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,” stated the Centers.
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The agency will also “rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”
EMTALA was passed in 1986 and requires hospitals participating in Medicare to provide medical services to all people, with the goal of stabilizing the patient facing an emergency.
Weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Democratic President Joe Biden’s HHS issued guidance arguing that EMTALA required hospital emergency staff to perform abortions.
The guidance came after several states enacted laws that restricted abortion in nearly all circumstances once the Supreme Court had decided that abortion was not a constitutional right.
“Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care — including abortion care,” said then HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement at the time.
“Protecting both patients and providers is a top priority, particularly in this moment. Health care must be between a patient and their doctor, not a politician. We will continue to leverage all available resources at HHS to make sure women can access the life-saving care they need.”
The Biden administration guidance led to federal litigation, including the U.S. Department of Justice filing a complaint against Idaho, claiming that its state law violated EMTALA.
In March, Trump’s DOJ dropped the lawsuit against Idaho, with both parties agreeing to a stipulation of dismissal in which each side paid their own attorneys’ fees and other costs.
In October 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration’s request to appeal a lower court ruling that prohibits the federal government from forcing emergency room doctors to perform abortions in Texas.
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., commended the Trump administration for “rescinding the harmful Biden-era guidance that warped EMTALA obligations and created widespread confusion in emergency rooms nationwide.”
“EMTALA is a decades-old statute that was originally designed to protect mother-patients and their unborn children in emergency situations, but the Biden administration manipulated the law’s purpose by issuing guidance that forced emergency room doctors to perform abortions, regardless of their states’ life-affirming laws,” Hyde-Smith said in a statement.
“Restoring EMTALA to its original purpose brings much-needed clarity to our incredible emergency room doctors across the country and peace of mind to the patients they serve.”
