The Biden administration says federal law preempts some types of bans on abortion. Doctors are not allowed to deny someone an abortion if their health or life is at risk, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This applies regardless of what state laws hold, says HHS.
HHS cites the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which says—among other things—that some hospital emergency rooms must treat people regardless of their ability to pay or of any state laws indicating otherwise. "The EMTALA statute requires that Medicare hospitals provide all patients an appropriate medical screening, examination, stabilizing treatment, and transfer, if necessary, irrespective of any state laws or mandates that apply to specific procedures," explains HHS in a July 11 press release. "Stabilizing treatment could include medical and/or surgical interventions, including abortion. If a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the health or life of the pregnant person — or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA's emergency medical condition definition — that state law is preempted."
