Joe Biden draws flak as his administration tells doctors to provide emergency abortions amid SC ruling

WASHINGTON, DC: Following last week's Supreme Court decision that did not resolve a legal dispute over whether state bans on abortion supersede a federal law requiring hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment, the Biden administration has instructed emergency room doctors that they must perform emergency abortions when necessary to save a pregnant woman's health, according to the New York Post.

Notably, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Chiquita Brooks-LaSure reminded in a letter delivered on Tuesday, July 2, to doctors and hospital groups that they have a legal obligation to provide stabilizing treatment, which may include abortions. The Associated Press was provided with a copy of the letter.

Biden administration instructs doctors to provide emergency abortions amid SC ruling

The letter said, "No pregnant woman or her family should have to even begin to worry that she could be denied the treatment she needs to stabilize her emergency medical condition in the emergency room."

It added, "And yet, we have heard story after story describing the experiences of pregnant women presenting to hospital emergency departments with emergency medical conditions and being turned away because medical providers were uncertain about what treatment they were permitted to provide."

Notably, following the Supreme Court's decision last week to uphold hospitals' right to temporarily conduct emergency abortions in Idaho despite the state's abortion prohibition, CMS will now reopen investigations into complaints lodged against emergency rooms in that state.

The ruling failed to settle a legal dispute over whether state abortion bans override a federal law requiring hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment.

However, according to a decision by a lower court, implementation of the tight six-week abortion restriction in Texas, the most populous state in the US, will remain halted.

The letter is the latest effort by the Biden administration to bring attention to a 40-year-old federal statute that mandates nearly all emergency facilities (those that accept Medicare funds) offer patients medical emergency stabilization therapy.

Hospitals that refuse to treat patients or send them away risk fines from the federal government, loss of Medicare funds, and federal investigations.

Despite strong state laws against abortion, the White House has maintained that it may nonetheless federally mandate that rare emergency abortions be done in the emergency department.

Furthermore, HHS promptly dispatched letters to physicians informing them that they were obligated to provide abortions in emergency medical cases where they were necessary to maintain a woman's medical stability, following the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022, which resulted in the loss of the constitutional right to an abortion for American women.

According to an AP research, after the US Supreme Court reversed Roe, complaints about pregnant women being turned away from emergency hospitals increased in 2022. This raised questions about emergency pregnancy care in states that had passed draconian abortion regulations.

Internet reacts as Biden administration tells doctors to provide emergency abortions

Several people on the internet slammed the Biden administration as they informed doctors to provide emergency abortions amid the Supreme Court ruling.

One user said, "Doctors don’t take orders from Biden the Dictator."

"Fake tanning and extra makeup does not erase Dementia. Baby Killer Joe."

A person also wrote, "The democrats just want votes even if it enables organizations like planned parenthood to commit late-term abortion violations to support their fetal body part harvesting business ! They are despicable."

Another added, "You know his abortion action is really coming from a Doctor……The Doctor Jill."

A person stated, "This is a red herring. If a condition is an immediate threat to life, it is always addressed. On OB/GYN emergency, by definition, must be instantly dealt with."

Another mentioned, "The ruling that overturned Roe vs Wade made clear that it is the State that makes decisions. Here, the Federal Executive is once again bypassing the SCOTUS! Unconstitutional and Reprehensible!!!"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.