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"If SCOTUS Restricts Emergency Abortion Care, Poor and At-Risk Populations Will Suffer Most" | Ms. Magazine - HEALTH JUSTICE & LAW | 04/18/2024

HIGHLIGHT: EMTALA embodies the fundamental principle that medical care should be accessible to all, especially in moments of crisis.

INSIGHT: The emergency room entrance at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, Idaho. The Biden administration has sued Idaho, saying that state’s abortion ban violates EMTALA because its exceptions are too narrow to allow doctors to perform abortions if needed to stabilize a patient. (Don & Melinda Crawford / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure that individuals, regardless of their ability to pay, receive necessary medical treatment in emergency situations.

This landmark legislation was designed to safeguard the lives of at-risk people, including those with disabilities, by requiring hospitals to stabilize patients before transferring or discharging them.

On April 24, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments and, by the summer, issue a critical decision regarding EMTALA and abortion rights. SCOTUS will ultimately decide whether EMTALA preempts state laws like Idaho’s anti-abortion trigger law, the Defense of Life Act. Ms. Magazine Black Women Matter the Official Group Harambee Community Services National Organization for Women (NOW) BBC NPR All Things Considered Oprah Daily Equal Justice Initiative National Council of Women's Organizations Financial Times Southern Poverty Law Center Black Lives Matter Michelle Obama NowThis NowThis Her NPR MSNBC HuffPost Black Voices HuffPost Women HuffPost HuffPost Politics HuffPost Parents HuffPost Latino Voices Black Press USA - NNPA

If SCOTUS Restricts Emergency Abortion Care, Poor and At-Risk Populations Will Suffer Most - Ms. Magazine Ahead of Supreme Court oral arguments in Idaho/Moyle v. U.S., the implications for at-risk women protected by EMTALA cannot be ignored.