Federal Appeals Court Blocks Biden Administration’s Abortion Care Guidance in Texas

In a recent development, a federal appeals court has intervened in the Biden administration’s attempt to enforce guidance protecting abortion access in Texas. The court ruled on Tuesday that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot rely on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to mandate doctors to provide abortion care in medical emergencies, regardless of state law.

The legal battle, initiated by the state of Texas in 2022, centers on the argument that the HHS guidance overstepped its authority by invoking EMTALA, particularly in situations where medical providers are required to offer abortion care in life-threatening scenarios.

The HHS issued the controversial guidance shortly after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. This guidance asserted that medical providers had an obligation to provide both general care when a patient could not afford it and abortion care when the patient’s life was in jeopardy.

However, the federal appeals court, in a unanimous ruling, concluded that only the first provision, addressing patients unable to afford care, is relevant for federal guidance. Judge Kurt Engelhardt, who delivered the ruling, clarified that EMTALA, as per HHS’s guidance, does not mandate physicians to provide abortions as a necessary stabilizing treatment for emergency medical conditions. The court opted not to broaden the scope of EMTALA to include abortion care.

Engelhardt emphasized that the 1986 law does not specify particular medical procedures, undermining the basis of the abortion-focused aspect of the guidance.

This legal battle began with a federal judge in Texas blocking the Biden administration’s guidance in 2022, a decision upheld by the appeals court on Tuesday.

The HHS had launched an investigation in May into two hospitals in Kansas and Missouri for alleged violations of the guidance. The hospitals were accused of not adhering to the HHS directive regarding abortion care in emergencies.

In a separate incident, the Biden administration invoked EMTALA in challenging Idaho’s stringent abortion restrictions in November. Idaho contested this interpretation, arguing that EMTALA does not pertain to abortion. The case is currently under appeal as the state’s abortion ban faces legal scrutiny.