Court Rules Biden Admin Cant Force Hospitals To Perform Abortions

https://texastribune.org/texas-hospitals-emergency-abortion

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday about whether the federal government can require Texas hospitals to perform life-saving abortions, despite the state’s near-total ban on the procedure.

After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden issued guidance to federally funded hospitals, reminding them of their obligation to provide stabilizing health care to anyone who shows up at the emergency room, even if that care requires performing an abortion.

The Biden administration said this was not a new policy, but merely reiterating existing regulations under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

Texas challenged the guidance, saying it was an improperly implemented overreach that creates a “nationwide mandate that every hospital and emergency-room physician perform abortions.”

The case was filed before U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, the only full-time federal judge in Lubbock, who has heard many of the state’s cases since he was appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump in 2019.

Hendrix sided with the state on this issue, saying the Biden administration had exceeded its authority and not followed proper procedure in issuing this guidance. He enjoined the guidance within Texas and ruled that Texas’ abortion laws are not preempted by EMTALA.

The Department of Justice appealed that ruling, and a three-judge panel — two judges appointed by Trump and one by President George W. Bush — heard arguments Tuesday at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The court did not indicate when it might rule.