July 12 -- Hospitals must perform an abortion if the woman’s life is in danger, even in states that ban the procedure with no exceptions.

That was the message from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra In a letter to health care providers Monday.

“As frontline health care providers, the federal EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) statute protects your clinical judgment and the action that you take to provide stabilizing medical treatment to your pregnant patients, regardless of the restrictions in the state where you practice,” Becerra wrote.

EMTALA requires medical facilities to decide if a woman seeking treatment might be in labor, in an emergency, or in a situation that could become an emergency, and to provide treatment.

“If a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by EMTALA, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition, the physician must provide that treatment,” the agency’s guidance states.

“When a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life of the pregnant person — or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition — that state law is preempted.”

The department said emergency conditions include “ectopic pregnancy, complications of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia with severe features.”

The Associated Press reported that “Even the states with the most stringent bans on abortion do allow exceptions when the health of a mother is at risk, though the threat of prosecution has created confusion for some doctors.”

The letter does not reflect a new policy but is a reminder of existing law, the AP reported.

“Under federal law, providers in emergency situations are required to provide stabilizing care to someone with an emergency medical condition, including abortion care if necessary, regardless of the state where they live,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure told the AP.

Associated Press: “Biden admin: Docs must offer abortion if mom’s life at risk”

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Email to Health Care Providers

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