\n\n“”Federal law is clear: patients have the right to stabilizing hospital emergency room care no matter where they live,” said Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Women should not have to be near death to get care.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July, HHS issued new guidance<\/a> stating that EMTALA’s provision for stabilizing treatment includes a right to an abortion in some circumstances. “If a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the health or life of the pregnant person\u2014or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition\u2014that state law is preempted,” the agency said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No existing abortion ban lacks an exception for a mother’s life<\/em>, but some do omit exceptions for women’s health<\/em>. And determining whether something counts as a life-threatening<\/em> emergency\u2014as opposed to a mere health-threatening<\/em> emergency\u2014isn’t so clear-cut. Many pregnancy complications could become life-threatening while not being necessarily or immediately so. The HHS guidance attempts<\/a> to provide clarity, stating that regardless of what a state law says, physicians must provide an abortion if one is necessary to address an emergency medical condition (including, but not limited to, ectopic pregnancy or severely high blood pressure).<\/p>\n\n\n\n