Biden health officials push federal abortion law after SCOTUS decision

The officials on Tuesday wrote an open letter telling doctors and hospital associations they must abort babies in cases when the mother’s health is at stake. The letter comes less than a week after the Supreme Court declined to take up Idaho’s appeal of a District Court’s order to allow emergency room abortions. Leaders from the Department of Health and Human Services and Medicare and Medicaid Services reinforced the administration’s position that providers must perform abortions to stabilize patients during medical emergencies, citing a 1986 federal law. A state law in Texas protecting unborn babies from abortion after six weeks of pregnancy remained in place because of a lower court’s temporary injunction, according to a footnote in the letter.

The administration first outlined its interpretation of the federal law in 2022 following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that allowed states to protect unborn babies from abortion.

Why now? The letter comes less than a week after a Supreme Court ruling did not resolve conflicting federal and state statutes on abortion. The 40-year-old Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires hospitals to perform stabilizing measures for patients in emergencies, which could include aborting a baby, according to the administration. However, several states have passed laws protecting babies from abortion after a heartbeat is detected, with few or no exceptions.