The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision that bars emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas.
The justices rejected an appeal from the Biden administration, thus leaving in place an order from a lower court that said hospitals cannot be forced to perform pregnancy terminations that would break the law in Texas.
The Biden administration had previously urged the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court ruling, arguing that federal law requires hospitals to provide abortions in emergency situations. The administration referenced a recent Supreme Court decision in Idaho, where justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to proceed while legal challenges played out.
Additionally, the Biden administration also referenced a Texas Supreme Court ruling, which clarified that doctors are not required to wait until a woman’s life is in immediate danger before performing an abortion. This, the administration argued, aligns Texas law with federal regulations, making the lower court’s ruling unnecessary.
Texas urged the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court’s order, arguing that the state’s law, unlike Idaho’s, includes an exception for the health of a pregnant patient. Texas officials maintained that the recent state Supreme Court ruling demonstrates no conflict between Texas law and federal regulations.
This photograph shows the outside the U.S. Supreme Court on October 7, 2024, in Washington, DC. On Monday, the Supreme Court let a decision stand from a lower court regarding emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas.
Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Doctors have raised concerns that the law remains dangerously unclear, noting that the state medical board has refused to define which specific conditions qualify under the health exception.
Complaints have surged across Texas and other states, as pregnant women in medical distress report being turned away from emergency rooms. Hospitals are grappling with uncertainty over whether providing standard care could violate increasingly stringent abortion laws.
For years, terminating a pregnancy has been a critical part of medical care for patients facing serious complications, helping to prevent life-threatening issues like sepsis and organ failure.
However, in Texas and other states with strict abortion bans, doctors and hospitals say it’s unclear if these procedures now violate the law—potentially risking prison time for medical professionals.
The Texas case emerged after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which triggered abortion restrictions in many Republican-led states. In response, the Biden administration issued guidance stating that hospitals are still obligated to provide abortions in emergency situations under federal law, which mandates care for patients in medical distress.
Texas filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s guidance, arguing that hospitals should not be compelled to perform abortions that would violate the state’s ban. In January, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Texas, concluding that the administration had exceeded its authority.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
Update 10/7/24 11:05 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.