(RepublicanPress.org) – The Founding Fathers established the Supremacy Clause in the US Constitution under Article VI, Paragraph 2, to ensure that federal law and treaties are the law of the land and take precedence over state law, including state constitutions. However, conflicts have arisen over the decades, leading to conflict between the states and Washington officials. Biden administration officials recently issued a directive to some doctors telling them to perform abortions despite state bans on the procedure.
On July 2, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a press release detailing a letter sent to hospital and medical provider groups nationwide from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medical and Medicaid Services (CMS) Director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. The notice discussed protections mandated under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) of 1986.
The letter explained that hospitals and providers must provide “stabilizing treatment, including abortion care […] when necessary to stabilize [a] patient’s emergency medical condition” or transfer them to another facility under the EMTALA. The notice said that the federal act also mandated treatment to “ensure […] the patient’s condition does not materially worsen” by any medical center receiving Medicaid funding.
The correspondence noted that HHS and CMS officials had “heard concerns” from medical professionals regarding their potential “individual liability in states with laws that directly conflict with EMTALA protections.” The letter stressed that under that federal law, the hospital or provider “must offer” an abortion if officials determine that procedure “is the stabilizing treatment necessary” to resolve an emergency medical condition.
Continuing, the letter spelled the matter out in black-and-white terms. It said, “when a state law prohibits abortion” but doesn’t provide exceptions protecting the “life and health” of a pregnant patient in an emergency — “that state law is preempted.”
The HHS and CMS notice cited a recent US Supreme Court decision that paved the way, at least temporarily, for emergency abortions to continue in Idaho as the reason for the distribution of their nationwide letter.
The court’s unsigned order dismissing the Moyle v. United States left an order in place by a federal judge temporarily blocking state officials from enforcing its abortion ban to the extent that it conflicts with the EMTLA. The court did address the underlying legal issues.
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