The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says an Oklahoma hospital did not violate federal law after doctors told a woman with a nonviable pregnancy to wait in the parking lot until her condition worsened enough to qualify for an abortion.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says an Oklahoma hospital did not violate federal law when doctors told a woman with a nonviable pregnancy to wait in the parking lot until her condition worsened enough to qualify for an abortion under the state’s strict ban.

Jaci Statton, 26, was among several women last year who challenged abortion restrictions that went into effect in Republican-led states after the Supreme Court revoked the nationwide right to abortion in 2022.

Rather than join a lawsuit, Statton filed a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA. The complaint came a little more than a year after Biden’s administration informed hospitals that they must provide abortion services if the mother’s life is at risk. At the time, President Joe Biden’s administration said EMTALA supersedes state abortion bans that don’t have adequate exceptions for medical emergencies.

The Biden administration’s denial of Statton’s claim is the latest development in the ongoing scrutiny over how to apply EMTALA in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. It also underscores the uphill legal battle reproductive rights advocates when pushing back against state abortion bans.

  • Ranvier
    61·
    10 months ago

    Unfortunately the courts have been ruling against using EMTALA in this way, letting these ridiculous state laws stand instead (that are totally oblivious to medical reality and think there’s some magic point where a doctor can say, now they’re gonna die if I don’t do something and then still be able to save them 100% no problem).

    https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/02/texas-abortion-fifth-circuit/

    Currently the Biden admin has two different lawsuits trying to apply EMTALA more aggressively already.

    https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/12/4/23984674/supreme-court-abortion-emtala-emergency-medically-necessary-idaho

    The supreme court is allowing the state laws to stand in the meantime though. A bad sign for how they will eventually rule. Unfortunately unless we see the supreme court rule in favor of the Biden admin’s position to use EMTALA more aggressively (which seems unlikely with this court), they’re not able to do much here.