NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded a Biden-era mandate that attempted to force emergency room doctors to perform abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. Because the administration’s action now protects mothers, unborn children, and doctors’ conscience rights, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit they had filed against the Biden administration earlier this year to challenge the mandate.
In Catholic Medical Association v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ADF attorneys represented the Catholic Medical Association, a national network of about 2,500 physicians and health care providers, arguing that the abortion mandate overstepped statutory authority and violated members’ conscience rights.
“Doctors—especially in emergency rooms—are tasked with preserving life. The Trump administration has rolled back a harmful Biden-era mandate that compelled doctors to end unborn lives, in violation of their deeply held beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman, director of regulatory practice. “Emergency room physicians can and do treat life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies, and every state allows doctors to do whatever is necessary to preserve the life of a mother. Now, doctors will be able to perform their life-giving duties without fear of government officials forcing them to end life and violate their beliefs.”
In 2022, the Biden administration announced its intention to force doctors to perform abortions under EMTALA. Shortly after the announcement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a memorandum and a letter from then-Secretary Becerra stating that EMTALA grants the administration authority to override state pro-life laws, even though EMTALA does not mention abortion but explicitly protects the “unborn child.”
Now, the Trump administration’s health department and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has rescinded that mandate and letter and has affirmed the plain words of the statute: EMTALA protects both the “pregnant woman” and the “unborn child.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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