In yet another development in the back-and-forth legal decisions on abortion policy, the Trump administration is changing the guidance currently in place at the nation’s hospitals, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The administration says they will revoke the existing directive that mandates hospitals offer emergency abortions when deemed necessary to stabilize a woman’s medical condition. This potential policy change could have significant implications for health care providers and patients across the country.
In 2022, the Biden administration issued the existing directive to hospitals in an effort to preserve abortion access for extreme cases in which women were experiencing medical emergencies and needed an abortion to prevent organ loss, severe hemorrhaging, or other serious complications, the AP reported.
Citing the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which mandates that any hospital emergency room accepting Medicare funds must offer a medical screening examination and necessary stabilizing treatment to every patient who presents, the Biden administration stated all hospitals need to provide emergency abortions. However, on Tuesday, the Trump administration announced that it would no longer enforce that policy.
In a June 3 statement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the agency “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,” adding that they will “work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”
Source: HealthDay
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