Hospitals violated law by not performing emergency abortion, according to feds.

Hospitals Violate Law Requiring Emergency Medical Care

Two hospitals have been accused of violating the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTLA), which requires emergency medical care for facilities paid by Medicare. The Freeman Health System in Joplin, Missouri, and the University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas failed to provide necessary stabilizing care to a woman, according to officials with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Woman Suffers Life-Threatening Pregnancy Complications

The woman, identified as Mylissa Farmer, was 17 weeks into her pregnancy and suffering from life-threatening complications when she went to the hospitals. Her lawyers claim that doctors should have carried out an emergency abortion after her water broke and it was determined her pregnancy was no longer viable. However, CMS investigators found that the hospitals discharged Farmer “with an un-stabilized emergency medical condition,” which could have resulted in serious injury, harm, impairment, or death.

EMTLA Requires Emergency Services Despite State Laws

U.S. authorities say that EMTLA requires hospitals to provide emergency services even if the services might be illegal under state laws that have come into effect, or were approved, in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade. However, a U.S. judge in 2022 prohibited hospitals from following that guidance in contravention of Texas law, saying it “goes well beyond EMTALA’s text, which protects both mothers and unborn children.”

Health Secretary Becerra Vows to Enforce the Law

Health Secretary Xavier Becerra has warned hospitals that receive Medicare funds that they must comply with EMTLA or face enforcement action. “We will do everything we can to protect their lives and health, and to investigate and enforce the law to the fullest extent of our legal authority, in accordance with orders from the courts,” he said.

State Laws on Abortion

• Missouri law bans many abortions, though it contains exceptions for emergencies.
• Kansas law allows abortions up to 22 weeks. Both states require a waiting period and counseling prior to an abortion.

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