Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
A group of Catholic doctors filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration last week for trying to force emergency room doctors to perform abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). They say the mandate violates members’ conscience rights and oversteps executive authority — which the Biden administration has recently done by attempting to rewrite Title IX.
The U.S. Congress passed the EMTALA in 1986 to require ERs that accept Medicare payments to provide a medical screening exam for anyone who seeks treatment and to provide stabilizing care, regardless of ability to pay.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to promote abortion. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HHS illegally expanded EMTALA to include abortion as stabilizing care in ERs.
“Doctors—especially in emergency rooms—are tasked with preserving life,” said ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman, director of regulatory practice. “Federal bureaucrats have no business compelling doctors or hospitals to end unborn lives, especially when the law they are citing grants them no such authority. 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.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s administration likely won’t defend lawsuits against HHS for abortion mandates or “transgender care.”
hoto credit: American Life League (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved
