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1 1 (November 1, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejgk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ R aesearch S rvice EMTALA Emergency Abortion Care Litigation: Overview and Initial Observations (Part I of II) November 1, 2022 After the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson omen 's Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey in holding that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to an abortion, restrictions on abortion access went into effect or were enacted in many states. These restrictions vary in degree from state to state. As part of the Biden Administration's response to these state restrictions, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a July 2022 guidance document (HHS Guidance) regarding the enforcement of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). EMTALA is a federal law that applies to every hospital that has an emergency department and participates in Medicare. The HHS Guidance states that under EMTALA's requirements, if a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department is experiencing an emergency medical condition, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition, the physician must provide that treatment. The HHS Guidance further provides that EMTALA preempts-or displaces-state abortion restrictions to the extent they conflict with EMTALA. The State of Texas sued to block enforcement of the Guidance while HHS sued the State of Idaho to block enforcement of Idaho's abortion ban to the extent it conflicts with EMTALA. In late August 2022, the district court in each case granted the respective plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction, temporarily suspending the HHS Guidance in Texas and portions of applicable state law in Idaho. This two-part Legal Sidebar series provides an overview of the litigation and some initial observations. Part I takes a closer look at the relevant federal and state laws and the HHS Guidance. Part II summarizes the district court orders and makes some initial observations regarding those decisions and the parties' litigating positions. Background The preemption doctrine, grounded in the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, provides that federal law supersedes conflicting state laws. Federal law can preempt state law either expressly (i.e., through a Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10850 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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