Confusion over emergency pregnancy care is endangering patients: Trump’s actions on EMTALA deepen the problem
Trump’s withdrawal of guidance on emergency care has created confusion that will have life and death consequences for patients, say Greer Donley and Kimberly Chernoby Earlier this month, President Trump’s administration rescinded guidance that clarified US hospitals’ legal obligation to provide emergency care to pregnant patients, even in states with strict abortion bans.1 Although expected, this action has led to tremendous confusion about the legality of medically necessary abortions in an already uncertain environment. In 2022, the Supreme Court over-ruled Roe v Wade, the case that first recognised a constitutional right to abortion in the United States. One month later, the Department of Health and Human Services, under President Biden, issued guidance stating that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labour Act (EMTALA), a federal law requiring hospitals to stabilise people with emergency medical conditions, applied to pregnancy related emergencies and included abortion as a
