- A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Texas can prohibit emergency abortions despite the Biden administration arguing that federal guidance trumps state laws. The suit, brought by the state of Texas in 2022, argues that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot cite the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) in its guidance that medical providers must provide abortion care in life-saving situations. The ruling comes after the Texas Supreme Court ruled last month that a pregnant woman suing the state over its abortion ban was not permitted to get such an emergency procedure in the state. (Articles here, here, and here)
- Amid significant upheaval to the abortion landscape in the United States, thousands of women have preemptively requested medication abortion pills in case they need them in the future, new research shows. Aid Access, a nonprofit telehealth service, provides medication abortion by mail. The organization has offered “advance provision” of those drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, for more than two years – and demand has surged over the past year and a half since the leak of the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Medication abortion remains legal in the US but has been challenged in the courts. The US Supreme Court announced last month that it would consider whether to restrict access to mifepristone, a decision that could upend the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval and regulation of the drug that has been considered “safe and effective” for decades. (Article here)
March 11, 2024
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