Doctors File Lawsuit Against Biden Admin’s Abortion Mandate

An organization of Catholic doctors is challenging the Biden administration’s attempt to force emergency room physicians to perform abortions.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, the Biden administration announced its intention to force doctors to perform abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

EMTALA is a federal law requiring hospitals to offer examinations and necessary treatment to patients who go to an emergency department, regardless of their ability to pay.

In a legal memorandum issued on July 11, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said,

If a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by EMTALA, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition, the physician must provide that treatment.

The memorandum also stipulated that if a state has a pro-life law prohibiting abortion, that law is preempted by EMTALA.

Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the Catholic Medical Association (CMA), a national network of around 2,500 physicians and health care providers.

The medical association alleges the Biden administration’s mandate violates physicians’ conscience rights and exceeds the executive branch’s legal authority.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. It contends the administration’s legal memorandum and letter “were promulgated without procedure required by law, and are arbitrary and capricious, all in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The Mandate also violates the rights of doctors under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the First Amendment.”

CMS’ memorandum and letter are also unnecessary, given that every state in the country – including those with pro-life laws – allows doctors to do whatever is necessary to preserve the life of mothers.

ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman, director of regulatory practice, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit, “Doctors – especially in emergency rooms – are tasked with preserving life,” adding,

Federal bureaucrats have no business compelling doctors or hospitals to end unborn lives, especially when the law they are citing grants them no such authority. Emergency room physicians can and do treat life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies. And every state allows doctors to do whatever is necessary to preserve the life of a mother.

Bowman continued,

Elective abortion is not life-saving care – it ends the life of the unborn child – and EMTALA does not grant the government authority to force doctors to perform these dangerous procedures; rather, it requires doctors to treat a pregnant woman and her “unborn child.”

We urge the court to follow Supreme Court precedent and allow doctors to perform their life-giving duties without fear of government officials forcing them to violate their beliefs.

Pro-abortion activists – including elements within the federal government – have spread the false claim that abortion can be “medically necessary” to treat female patients with certain life-threatening medical conditions, like ectopic pregnancies.

But this isn’t true. In fact, abortion is never “medically necessary” to save a woman’s life.

That’s because there’s a fundamental distinction between abortion – which is the elective choice to end a preborn baby’s life – and therapeutic treatment which may result in the tragic death of a preborn baby.

Consider the Dublin Declaration on Maternal Healthcare, which has been signed by over 1,000 physicians:

As experienced practitioners and researchers in obstetrics and gynaecology, we affirm that direct abortion – the purposeful destruction of the unborn child – is not medically necessary to save the life of a woman.

We uphold that there is a fundamental difference between abortion, and necessary medical treatments that are carried out to save the life of the mother, even if such treatment results in the loss of life of her unborn child.

We confirm that the prohibition of abortion does not affect, in any way, the availability of optimal care to pregnant women.

Last year, in a similar case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit unanimously held the Biden administration cannot use EMTALA to force emergency room physicians to provide abortions. That ruling applied to physicians within Texas and members of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations.

President-elect Donald J. Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as his Secretary for Health and Human Services; he’s also announced Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as his Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

If these nominees are confirmed, we hope and pray they will withdraw CMS’ memorandum and letter, guaranteeing all physicians are free to uphold the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.

If they don’t, we’re sure ADF and the Catholic Medical Association’s courageous fight on behalf of preborn babies and physician’s conscience rights will continue.

The case is Catholic Medical Association v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

If you are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and want to learn more about your options, you can visit My Choice Network.

When you need someone to talk to about your baby, or whatever else you’re going through, we’re here. Please reach out at 1-800-A-FAMILY.

Related articles and resources:

My Choice Network

Abortion is Healthcare: Thoughts from Doctors

Abortion and ‘Health of the Mother’

HHS Uses Intimidation to Compel Hospitals in Pro-Life States to Provide Abortions

U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses Idaho Abortion Case Without Addressing the Merits

Photo from Shutterstock.

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