Chicago – October 07, 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review a request from President Joe Biden’s administration to enforce a federal rule in Texas that would require hospitals to perform abortions in emergencies to save a patient’s life.
This decision keeps in place a ruling from a lower court that blocked the guidance in Texas, where abortion is almost completely banned.
The federal guidance, issued in July 2022, reminded hospitals of their duty under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
It stated that doctors must perform an abortion if it’s essential to stabilize a patient during a medical emergency, even if abortion is generally banned in that state. This guidance was meant to ensure emergency care for everyone, including access to abortion when medically necessary.
Texas and two anti-abortion medical groups sued, arguing that the rule goes beyond what Texas law permits. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix agreed, blocking the rule’s enforcement in Texas, claiming it misinterprets EMTALA by allowing abortions not allowed under state law.
