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US law will overrule states for abortions in cases of medical emergencies


Physicians must continue to offer abortions in cases of medical emergencies without exception, Joe Biden’s administration said on Monday, as it insisted federal law would overrule any total state bans on abortion.

In a letter to healthcare providers, the president’s health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) protects providers from any purported state restrictions should they be required to perform emergency abortions.

“Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care – including abortion care,” Becerra said. “Today, in no uncertain terms, we are reinforcing that we expect providers to continue offering these services, and that federal law preempts state abortion bans when needed for emergency care.”

Becerra said medical emergencies include ectopic pregnancies, complications arising from miscarriages, and pre-eclampsia, NBC News reported.

Becerra said in his letter to medical providers: “If a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department, including certain labor and delivery departments, is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by EMTALA, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition, the physician must provide that treatment.

“And when a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life and health of the pregnant person – or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition – that state law is preempted.”

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Source: The Guardian, 12 July 2022

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