A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the U.S. government does not have the authority to force a Texas emergency room doctor to perform an abortion if necessary to stabilize the condition of a patient there.
Reuters reported that the ruling sided with Texas in a lawsuit alleging the Biden administration overstepped its abortion authority.
A panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rules unanimously on the issue as several cases move through the courts regarding when abortions can be performed in states with exceptions to the abortion ban for medical emergencies. was lowered.
In July 2022, the Biden administration announced that the Emergency Medical Care and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), the federal law that governs emergency rooms, allows emergency rooms to: They announced guidelines stating that abortions can be made compulsory even if abortions are performed. Required in states with emergency rooms.
Texas pregnant woman challenges state’s abortion ban in lawsuit after fetal death diagnosis
Anti-abortion demonstrators gather for a rally at Federal Building Plaza on June 24, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
This guidance was issued shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in June 2022.
The reversal of Roe v. Wade transferred the power to allow, restrict, or ban abortion across the board to states.
A Texas judge has ruled that the state’s abortion law is too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications.
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After the reversal of Roe v. Wade, state supreme courts will become key battlegrounds in the battle over abortion rights. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
The decision was based on the court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Healthcare Organization, which focused on Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
A lower court agreed in August 2022 that EMTALA is silent on what doctors should do when there is a discrepancy between the health status of a mother and her fetus. The court also agreed that Texas’ abortion ban “fills the void” by including narrow exceptions that could save a mother’s life or, in some cases, prevent serious bodily injury.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt, writing for the Fifth Circuit panel, said EMTALA includes fetal delivery requirements that balance the medical needs of the mother and the fetus while complying with state abortion laws. He said it was the doctor’s responsibility to take the precautions.
Texas abortion ban challenged as oral arguments begin
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A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. government does not have the authority to force a Texas emergency room doctor to perform an abortion if necessary to stabilize the condition of a patient in the emergency room. (St. Petersburg)
What the law does not provide for, Engelhardt wrote, is “an unqualified right of a pregnant mother to abort her child.”
The Fifth Circuit’s ruling upholds a lower court’s order blocking enforcement of the Biden administration’s guidance to members of two anti-abortion physician associations in Texas and across the nation.
In December, a pregnant Texas woman with a fatal fetal diagnosis asked a court to allow her to have an abortion, in what her lawyers said was the first case of its kind in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was overturned. It is said to be the first time.
The Texas Supreme Court rejected the woman’s claim. She ended up leaving the state to undergo the surgery.
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Texas is one of 13 states that bans abortion at almost all stages of pregnancy, and although Texas allows exceptions, doctors and women have argued in court that the state’s law Doctors say they are afraid to perform abortions because the language is so restrictive and vague. Criminal liability.
Reuters contributed to this report.