• The Biden administration declared  that healthcare providers must provide abortion services if a mother’s life is in danger and that any procedures 
• After the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Roe v. Wade decision last month, President Joe Biden signed an executive order facilitating access to services to end pregnancies.
• The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) defines an emergency medical condition as one that requires immediate medical attention

The Biden administration declared on Monday that healthcare providers must provide abortion services if a mother’s life is in danger and that any procedures carried out in such situations would be protected by federal law regardless of any state laws.

After the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Roe v. Wade decision last month, President Joe Biden signed an executive order facilitating access to services to end pregnancies. The guideline was issued just days afterwards.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) defines an emergency medical condition as one that requires immediate medical attention, according to the Department of Health & Human Services, and abortion is a “stabilising treatment,” in which case doctors are required to offer that treatment.

In addition to protecting clinicians while providing legally required abortion services in such circumstances, EMTALA mandates that medical institutions identify whether a patient seeking treatment may be in labour or whether they are experiencing an emergency medical issue.

In a statement, the agency listed ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy loss complications, and emergent hypertensive illnesses such as preeclampsia with severe characteristics as examples of emergency circumstances.

The advice only serves to remind physicians and other providers of their ongoing legal responsibilities, according to the health department, and does not reflect new policy.

Biden stated on Sunday that he had asked his administration to determine if he had the ability to declare an emergency related to public health and abortion.

Declaring a public health emergency would not necessarily free up resources, according to Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, who cited the government’s costly responses to COVID-19 and monkeypox.

According to Jean-Pierre, “It also doesn’t unleash a considerable amount of legal authority.” Therefore, that is the reason we haven’t done that yet. But she went on to say, “Everything is on the table.”

After the Supreme Court decision last month, the White House has come under pressure from Biden’s own party to act. More than 70% of Americans believe that a woman and her doctor should decide whether or not to have an abortion,

EMTALA safeguards medical professionals’ clinical judgement independent of any limitations imposed by the state in which they practise, according to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a separate letter to healthcare providers.

The professional and legal obligation of a doctor or other trained medical workers to “give stabilising medical care” Becerra wrote “preempts any directly conflicting state statute or regulation that may otherwise prohibit such treatment.”

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