Texas has sued the Biden administration over federal guidelines to perform an emergency abortion in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is at risk.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit on Thursday, accusing the Biden administration of trying to make emergency rooms walk-in clinics for abortions.
The Department of Health and Human Services advises that a federal law protecting patients’ access to emergency treatment requires abortions to be performed when doctors believe a person’s life or health is in danger.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, the Biden administration has argued that abortion is still legally available in all states, despite the passage of new legislation to restrict access to abortions.
The guidance on vaccines applies whether your state mandates or not, HHS said in a memo published Monday.
If a pregnant patient exhibits an emergency medical condition and you, as a physician, believe that the appropriate treatment necessary is abortion, you must provide that treatment.
This lawsuit seeks to address the legal battles that are now becoming more prevalent in the US because certain states are pushing for further restrictions and the federal government is fighting to maintain access to abortion.
The flurry of legal action has created a sense of confusion as different courts and state legislatures debate what is allowed. The issue is whether abortions should be allowed based on circumstances like rape or incest, states passing laws about how long a woman can wait before making this decision, and new questions about the president’s stance on national abortion.
Paxton argues that the Biden administration is trying to force hospitals and emergency medicine physicians to carry out abortions, despite the fact that the guidelines refer only to emergency situations.
In Texas, abortion is illegal without exceptions. The laws are worded in a way that make them ambiguous- specifically when they say abortions to save the mother’s life aren’t illegal. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argues that the exception isn’t broad enough, because there are no exceptions for rape or incest (in the law).