CMS Rescinds EMTALA Guidance on Hospital Obligation to Provide Emergency Abortions

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced June 3 it is rescinding guidance from July 2022, titled “Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specific to Patients who are Pregnant or are Experiencing Pregnancy Loss” (QSO-22-22-Hospitals, PDF) and (QSO-21-22-Hospitals PDF) and the accompanying letter issued under the Biden administration (PDF). The guidance, which was issued after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, clarified that if a hospital emergency department physician believes that an abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve a patient’s emergency medical condition, the physician must provide that treatment, regardless of state law.

The CMS explained that the guidance does not reflect the policy of this administration and reiterated that it “will continue to enforce EMTALA, which protects all individuals who present to the hospital emergency departments seeking examination or treatment, including for identified emergency conditions that place the health of the pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy.” Additionally, the agency stated that it would “work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”

The Biden administrations’ guidance has been central to the litigation on this issue, including a case related to an Idaho abortion law that was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court [refer to Washington Highlights, Jan. 24, 2025; March 22, 2024].