HHS rescinds Biden-era guidance ordering ER staff to commit abortions

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rescinded Biden-era guidance Tuesday that attempted to force emergency room (ER) workers to carry out induced abortions.

The Biden administration’s guidance had deceptively tried to strong-arm pro-life states into allowing induced abortion as “stabilizing care” under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), when those states’ laws already protected pregnant women during medical emergencies.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In July 2022, the Biden administration issued guidance telling emergency rooms across the nation that they were legally obligated to commit induced abortions during medical emergencies.

• The Biden administration threatened to pull Medicare funding from any hospital that did not carry out induced abortions in emergencies.

• On Tuesday, CMS announced that the Biden-era guidance has been rescinded by the Trump HHS.

• Pregnant women are still protected during medical emergencies in every state — even those that restrict induced abortion.

THE DETAILS: 

On May 29, the HHS and CMS quietly rescinded the Biden-era EMTALA guidance, which said that state pro-life laws protecting preborn children are preempted by EMTALA and claimed that EMTALA legally obligates emergency room doctors to commit induced abortions (which intentionally and directly kill preborn children).

CMS wrote on its website, “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. CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”

WHY IT MATTERS:

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, applauded the decision. She noted that EMTALA is a decades-old statute designed to protect pregnant women and their preborn children who are facing medical emergencies, but that the Biden administration:

• Manipulated the purpose of EMTALA by claiming that abortion (understood as intent to kill) is stabilizing care.

• Issued guidance that attempted to force emergency room workers into committing abortions or face losing their Medicare funding.

“It is so encouraging to have an administration that once again prioritizes the well-being of pregnant women and their doctors,” said Hyde-Smith in a statement. “I commend President Trump and Dr. Oz for rescinding the harmful Biden-era guidance that warped EMTALA obligations and created widespread confusion in emergency rooms nationwide.”

THE BACKSTORY:

In July 2022, the Biden administration’s memorandum and letter from then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra warned emergency room workers they had an “existing obligation to comply with EMTALA…” which included commit abortions to ‘stabilize’ patients.

The Biden administration threatened to remove Medicare funding if ER staff did not comply. The memorandum and letter came just after the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

While some conditions may require a preterm delivery of a baby, this is not the same as intentionally killing the preborn child before delivery.

Emergency room doctors do carry out life-saving care for pregnant women and their babies during medical emergencies; however, induced abortions are not life-saving care.

GO DEEPER:

Induced abortion — the direct and intentional killing of a preborn child — is not the standard of care for medical emergencies during pregnancy. Not PPROM, not preeclampsia, not placenta accreta, not placenta percreta, not placenta increta, not placenta previa, and so on (see more information at links provided).