The Biden administration is urging the Supreme Court to review whether Texas abortion law is trumped by federal requirements for hospitals to treat patients when their lives are in danger.
The government’s petition comes weeks before the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in an Idaho case over whether federal law requirements for providing lifesaving emergency care preempt the state’s abortion bans.
Both cases involve the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA. In the Biden administration’s view, EMTALA requires Medicare-funded hospitals to provide abortions when a pregnant person’s life is in danger. The administration advanced this view via guidance in 2022, shortly after the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Texas challenged the administration’s guidance, and a federal court then blocked enforcement of the Biden administration’s EMTALA interpretation within the state.
In January, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed that decision.
With the Supreme Court scheduled to hear arguments in the Idaho case on April 24, the government wants the Justices to hold its petition for the time being and decide based on the Idaho ruling.
The case is Becerra v. Texas, No. 23-1076, Petition 4/1/24.
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