Washington, DC — Today, the Trump administration rescinded guidance that reaffirmed hospitals’ obligation under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to provide health-saving and lifesaving abortion care to patients experiencing medical crises. The rescission of the guidance is yet another clear sign the administration is caving to its anti-abortion allies and reneging on President Trump’s campaign promises that his administration would not interfere with abortion access.
The Trump administration’s announcement came the same day as an anti-abortion group challenging the guidance chose to dismiss its case, Catholic Medical Association v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This case threatened to jeopardize access to emergency abortion care nationwide. The Catholic Medical Association’s decision to abandon its case came just days after Doctors for America — represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Tennessee, Democracy Forward, and the National Women’s Law Center — moved to intervene as a defendant in the case to ensure that access to this critical care was vigorously defended. While the federal government was named as a defendant in the case, it had made no move to defend EMTALA and the right to emergency abortion care in the lawsuit.
“For decades, EMTALA has protected the ability of all people, including those who are pregnant, to receive life and health saving, stabilizing care in emergency situations. Yet, extremists have sought to undermine these protections for those who are pregnant following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs through filing baseless legal challenges like the one they dismissed today and through the EMTALA guidance rescission announced today,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO for Democracy Forward. “The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw EMTALA guidance guaranteeing pregnant people medical care in emergency situations will sow confusion for providers and endanger the lives and health of pregnant people. Every American deserves the right to access the necessary care in emergency scenarios, including pregnant people, without political interference. Democracy Forward will continue to work with our partners to use all legal tools to defend Americans’ reproductive freedom, promote evidence-based and medically accurate information and care, and oppose efforts that place political ideology over patient care.”
“The Trump administration cannot simply erase four decades of law protecting patients’ lives with the stroke of a pen,” said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, deputy director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project. “Regardless of where they live, pregnant patients have a right to emergency abortion care that will save their health or lives. By rescinding this guidance, the Trump administration has sent a clear signal that it is siding not with the majority, but with its anti-abortion allies — and that will come at the expense of women’s lives. The ACLU will use every lever we have to keep President Trump and his administration from endangering our health and lives.”
“EMTALA has long protected the right to emergency care, including abortion when it is the necessary treatment to stabilize a patient. Stripping away federal guidance affirming what the law requires will put lives at risk,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. “To be clear: this action doesn’t change hospitals’ legal obligations, but it does add to the fear, confusion, and dangerous delays patients and providers have faced since the fall of Roe v. Wade. At the same time, this administration claims it is considering ways to support ‘population growth,’ but it is actively dismantling the systems that protect pregnant people’s health and lives. The hypocrisy is staggering. No matter what political games the administration wants to play, we will continue to stand with the patients, doctors, and hospitals fighting every day to do what is right.”
For nearly four decades, EMTALA has been understood by medical providers and the federal government — including both Democratic and Republican administrations — to require abortion care when that care is needed to stabilize pregnant patients in a medical crisis. As Doctors for America’s motion to intervene emphasized, stripping away EMTALA’s protections would put doctors in legal chaos and force them to violate their sworn duty: to save lives and prevent harm.
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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
For more than 100 years, the ACLU has worked in courts, legislatures, and communities to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With a nationwide network of offices and millions of members and supporters, the ACLU takes on the toughest civil liberties fights in pursuit of liberty and justice for all. For more information on the ACLU, visit https://www.aclu.org.
The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice — in the courts, in public policy, and in our society — working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us — especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For more than 50 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women. Find out more at NWLC.org.