Judge blocks HHS guidance on abortions as emergency care – By Jessie Hellmann (Roll Call) / Aug 24, 2022
Biden administration guidance specifies when to provide abortions during emergency medical situations
A federal judge in Texas late Tuesday blocked guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services directing hospitals to perform abortions when necessary to stabilize or save the life of the mother, a setback for the Biden administration.
U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, who is based in Lubbock, granted a preliminary injunction requested by the state of Texas. He wrote in an order that the July 11 HHS guidance, which relied on a longstanding federal law requiring hospitals provide emergency treatment to anyone who needs it, ignores the provisions stating the health of the fetus must be considered.
“The guidance goes well beyond EMTALA’s text, which protects both mothers and unborn children, is silent as to abortion, and preempts state law only when the two directly conflict,” wrote Hendrix, a Trump appointee, referring to the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which HHS cited in its guidance. “Since the statute is silent on the question, the guidance cannot answer how doctors should weigh risks to both a mother and her unborn child.”
The guidance, which HHS issued last month, will now be on hold while the case plays out in court.
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