Last week, a ruling in Texas stated that hospitals and emergency rooms in the state are exempt from having to perform life-saving abortions.
Specifically, a federal appeals court ruled that hospitals that receive federal funding in Texas aren’t required to provide life-saving abortions under a federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The debate on whether or not EMTALA covers abortions dates back to shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated EMTALA took priority over state laws. Under EMTALA, hospitals and emergency rooms are required to provide life-saving abortions even where there are strict abortions laws, the Biden administration stated. However, states like Texas and Idaho are challenging this and claiming that EMTALA doesn’t take priority.
