CMS has withdrawn a 2022 guidance issued under the Biden administration that reinforced hospitals’ obligations to provide emergency abortion care to women under the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act.
Six things to know:
1. CMS rescinded the guidance, along with an accompanying letter from former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, on June 3. The move removes federal protections for healthcare practitioners who offer emergency abortion care in states that restrict or ban the procedure.
2. President Joe Biden’s administration issued the original guidance in July 2022 after Roe V. Wade was overturned. The guidance clarified that clinicians who provided medical treatment, including abortions, to pregnant patients who present to emergency departments were protected under EMTALA, regardless of state law. EMTALA was enacted in 1986 by Congress, requiring Medicare hospitals to provide all patients with appropriate emergency care.
3. While the guidance is revoked, CMS said it will continue to enforce EMTALA, including in emergency situations when the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child is at risk.
“CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions,” the agency said in a June 3 statement.
4. Anti-abortion groups applauded the Trump administration’s move to rescind the guidance, which coincides with recommendations outlined in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
“Led by [CMS Administrator] Dr. [Mehmet] Oz, the Trump administration has delivered another win for life and truth — stopping Biden’s attack on emergency care for both pregnant moms and their unborn children,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said in a June 3 statement. “It is a clear fact that pregnant women are protected under pro-life laws.”
5. Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates and some reproductive care groups expressed concerns about potentially life-threatening consequences for pregnant patients.
“This action sends a clear message: the lives and health of pregnant people are not worth protecting,” Jamila Perritt, MD, president and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health, said in a June 3 statement. “Complying with this law can mean the difference between life and death for pregnant people, forcing providers like me to choose between caring for someone in their time of need and turning my back on them to comply with cruel and dangerous laws.”
6. EMTALA has emerged as a pivotal issue in the national abortion debate, spurring several legal disputes about how the law applies to abortion access. The Supreme Court has in several rulings declined to take up the question of whether EMTALA covers abortion in emergency situations.
