Trump administration rescinds Biden-era EMTALA guidance on emergency abortion care

By lauraharris // 2025-06-08

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The Trump administration rescinded a 2022 HHS policy that required hospitals to provide emergency abortions (e.g., for ectopic pregnancies or life-threatening conditions) under EMTALA, even in states with abortion bans.
The 1986 law mandates that Medicare-funded hospitals stabilize patients in emergencies, regardless of payment ability. The Biden administration had argued abortion could qualify as "stabilizing care" post-Roe.
HHS and CMS withdrew the guidance, calling it inconsistent with current policy. They emphasized EMTALA still protects pregnant women in emergencies but clarified it does not override state abortion restrictions.
Pro-life groups (e.g., Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America) celebrated the reversal, calling the Biden policy an overreach. Abortion rights advocates (e.g., ACLU) criticized the move as a threat to emergency care access.
The Trump administration framed the reversal as fulfilling a promise to curb "abortion radicalism," while critics accused it of endangering women by creating legal confusion around emergency care.

The Trump administration has rescinded a Biden-era guidance that used a federal law to require hospitals to provide emergency abortions even in states where the procedure is banned. In 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services interpreted the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) as mandating abortions in emergency cases, such as ectopic pregnancies, severe miscarriage complications or life-threatening conditions like pre-eclampsia, regardless of state restrictions. EMTALA, enacted in 1986, requires hospitals receiving Medicare funding to stabilize patients in emergencies, regardless of their ability to pay. The Biden administration argued at that time that abortion could qualify as "stabilizing treatment" under EMTALA, particularly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. However, the HHS and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), along with the letter from former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, declared the guidance "does not reflect the policy of this Administration" and withdrew it on Tuesday, June 3. (Related: Biden's Health Department mulls declaring public health emergency on abortion, claiming it's an emergency to NOT kill babies.) "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," a press release from the HHS read. "CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration's actions." CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz reaffirmed the administration's stance on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating, "EMTALA is clear and the law has not changed: Women will receive care for miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and medical emergencies in all fifty states – this has not and will never change in the Trump administration."

Pro-life advocates celebrate the reversal of pro-abortion Biden-era guidance

The decision has drawn mixed reactions from abortion rights supporters and pro-life advocates. Abortion rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), criticized the administration and accused President Donald Trump of backtracking on a campaign promise to protect abortion access. Meanwhile, anti-abortion advocates applauded the move. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser condemned the Biden-era policy, calling it an overreach that promoted abortion in defiance of state and federal laws. "Democrats have created confusion on this fact to justify their extremely unpopular agenda for all-trimester abortion," she said. "In situations where every minute counts, their lies lead to delayed care and put women in needless, unacceptable danger." Roger Severino, the vice president for domestic policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, who served in the first Trump administration, echoed a similar stance in his statement. "President Trump promised to dismantle the abortion radicalism left by his predecessor and today another abortion mandate bites the dust," he said on June 3. Learn the federal government's latest actions regarding abortions in the United States at Abortions.news. Watch this Fox News report of the Supreme Court issuing a ruling that allows hospitals to perform emergency abortions.

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Pro-life advocates celebrate the reversal of pro-abortion Biden-era guidance

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