SCOTUS sends EMTALA Case back to Lower Courts
FLORIDA— On June 27th, 2024, The United States Supreme Court officially dismissed an appeal over Idaho’s abortion law to prevent the provision of abortion care in medical emergencies. For several months, the United States Supreme Court has been deliberating this appeal that challenges the longstanding federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), and the protections of pregnant people in need of urgent care. EMTALA guarantees treatment for anyone experiencing medical emergencies with no exceptions. While SCOTUS dismissed the EMTALA case and disrupted the cruel attempts by anti-abortion extremists to exclude pregnant people from their basic right to health care, we know they won’t stop until they achieve their ultimate goal to ban abortion nationwide. The EMTALA case will be considered by a lower court, where a trial will be held, and a final decision will be made. For now, mandatory ER abortion care remains intact except in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, where lower courts ruled EMTALA is not enforceable.
Anti-abortion extremists have brought forth this case to the Supreme Court to exclude pregnant people from EMTALA’s protections and violate their right to access healthcare. Without these protections, even more, people will be denied or delayed the abortions they need, deserve, and have a right to access.
“We call upon lower courts to uphold the right of every individual to get the emergency health care they need —and that must include pregnant people who need abortions. FAN believes in every body’s right to access the emergency care they need, and this case puts into jeopardy life-saving healthcare access for pregnant people across the country.”
-Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro, Executive Director of Florida Access Network
We recognize this case as a tactic to further restrict and stigmatize abortion access on a national scale. All abortion bans are oppressive, unjust, and a function of white supremacist, hetero-patriarchy that systemically polices and infringes on our rights and bodily autonomy.
Florida Access Network stands unwavering on the frontlines, aiding those navigating restrictions. We are shifting, adapting, and mobilizing in real-time as the systems around us continue to fail members of our community. Florida Access Network, alongside the 100 abortion funds in communities across the country, remains committed to a future where all people have the power and resources to care for and affirm their bodies, identities, and health for themselves and their families.
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Florida Access Network builds pathways for abortion access by advocating for reproductive justice, funding abortion care, and providing logistical support to make abortion access a reality.
