The U.S. government said healthcare providers must offer abolition services if the life of the mother is at risk, and procedures under such circumstances will be protected under federal law no matter what the state bans against them are.
The Department of Health & Human Services said physicians must provide abortion treatment if they believe a pregnant patient is experiencing any kind of emergency medical condition, as defined by Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, and that an abortion would be a “stabilizing treatment” to overcome such risk.
The Act, EMTALA for short, requires medical facilities to determine whether someone seeking treatment may begin labor, or whether they face an emergency health situation. It also protects medical providers when offering legally mandated abortion services in these situations.
Among the included emergency conditions would be topic pregnancies, complications of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders, like preeclampsia with severe features.
The guidance is not actually any new policy. It has been issued as a reminder to doctors and providers of existing obligations under federal law, the health department said.
The announcement comes days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order that eases access to abortion services.
On Sunday, Biden asked his administration to consider whether he has the authority to declare an abortion-related public health emergency.
There has been mass demand for the U.S. government to take action in order to protect reproductive rights following the conservative Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion last month.
Protecting abortion rights is a massive, key issue for Democrats. Overall, most people in the U.S. believe the issue of abortion should be left up to a woman and her doctor, with the majority of people across the nation polling in favor of abortions being legal.
Since the Supreme Court overturned abortion rights, Republican-controlled states have in acted sweeping abortion bans. Some states make zero exceptions for their abortion bans even in cases of rape or incest.
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