Hi John,

In case you missed it, this week the Trump administration took a dangerous step backward and rescinded federal guidance clarifying pregnancy care requirements under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act aka EMTALA.  

This guidance, issued by the Biden administration following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe, made clear that regardless of state abortion bans, hospitals are required to provide abortion care when needed to stabilize a patient during a medical emergency. 

The administration’s callous decision, pulled straight from the pages of Project 2025, threatens pregnant patients' health, lives, and safety. To be clear, rescinding this guidance does not change hospitals’ legal obligations to provide emergency abortion care. However, it invites chaos into emergency rooms — deepening confusion for hospitals navigating abortion bans and making it even easier for care to be delayed or denied when patients need it most.  

So what now?

NIRH is already actively working with partners across the country to pass comprehensive state-level EMTALA protections that guarantee emergency abortion care, regardless of who’s in the White House.  

Just recently we played an integral role in drafting and passing state-level emergency pregnancy care legislation in New York. It not only mirrors the federal EMTALA, but updates provisions of the law to meet the current reproductive health landscape. NIRH also advocated for the law's requirement that pregnant patients are adequately screened to determine whether they are in active labor – an essential addition because far too many patients have been denied or delayed care due to inadequate evaluation. 

Informed by our work in NY, NIRH continues to fight for the passage of emergency care legislation throughout the states, including Massachusetts, where we recently submitted expert testimony to the MA Senate urging lawmakers to enact robust emergency care protections. 

And we’re not stopping there! The stakes are high, and the harm is happening now. States must do everything in their power to protect pregnant patients, not if but when medical emergencies arise, and NIRH is here to help them do it.  

In solidarity,

Christian LoBue

President

NIRH

National Institute for Reproductive Health
14 Wall St
Suite 3B
New York, NY 10005
United States

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