Texas, Biden administration square off over abortion in federal court

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana heard arguments on Tuesday from the Biden administration, which wants to be allowed to enforce a federal healthcare law that it claimed ran counter to Texas abortion restrictions. Attorneys for the administration argued that the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires hospitals to perform abortions as a “stabilizing treatment” to mothers facing an “emergency medical condition,” though not necessarily death. The Biden administration issued a notice that the federal guidance on “life-saving” abortions overruled Texas abortion protections after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Since abortions are legal in Texas when a mother’s life is at risk, and the act doesn’t give specifics on what is considered a medical emergency condition, Texas attorneys argued that the state is already following the federal guidance. The panel did not indicate when it might return a ruling.

Has the government been forcing Texas hospitals to give abortions? U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix issued a preliminary injunction last August against the Department of Health and Human Services enforcing the act in Texas. Hendrix reasoned that the specificity of Texas law fills out the vague verbiage of the federal act. A Republican president appointed each member of Tuesday’s three-judge panel.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report in Vitals on how Tuesday’s elections could affect the fight for unborn life.