NEW DATA: Abortion Bans Are Limiting Access to Lifesaving Emergency Care for Patients Nationwide
WASHINGTON, DC – New data published in the JAMA Health Forum confirms that abortion bans impact all patients' access to emergency medical care in states across the country. These findings spotlight that women are dying because they are being denied emergency care in states with abortion bans. While the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) guarantees access to lifesaving care at hospitals nationwide, restrictive abortion laws undermine these protections, leaving patients and providers at risk.
Veronica Ingham, Managing Director of Free & Just, released the following statement responding to the new data:
“No one in crisis should be turned away from the ER, but this data confirms what we have known all along: Abortion bans limit access to all types of emergency medical care, including lifesaving emergency abortion care. Abortion bans have already claimed the lives of women in states like Georgia and Texas – and these are just the deaths we know about. Instead of protecting patients and families across the country, Republican lawmakers and their extremist allies are working overtime to impose dangerous new restrictions on abortion.”
BACKGROUND
For decades, federal law has required hospitals to provide emergency medical treatment to anyone who needs it. Data from Navigator Research found that while only 15% of people were familiar with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), the vast majority support the protections it provides for patients.
Still, anti-abortion extremists are working to gut these critical safeguards.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration rescinded federal guidance specifying that pregnant patients experiencing medical emergencies should be able to access abortion care. The previous guidance during the Biden Administration reaffirmed that the protections guaranteed by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) extend to pregnant patients in need of emergency abortion care.
Bottomline: From rescinding Biden era guidance that required hospitals to provide lifesaving abortion care, to recent attacks on medication abortion, extremists have made clear that they will not stop until abortion is banned nationwide – no matter the cost.
If you are interested in connecting with patients, providers, or advocates about attacks on lifesaving emergency care at the local and federal level, please contact Malachi White (malachi@freeandjust.us).
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