Trump Just Ended Emergency Abortion Protections. Here's What That Means.

EMTALA is gone, and now, so are federal guarantees for life-saving pregnancy care.

Jun 04, 2025

On June 3, 2025, the Trump administration rescinded a federal protection that guaranteed emergency abortion care in the United States. The rule, issued under President Biden, made it clear: if a pregnant patient faced a life-threatening condition such as a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy, or a uterine hemorrhage, hospitals had a legal obligation to act, even in states with abortion bans.

Now, that clarity is gone.

Doctors in restrictive states no longer have federal cover to provide emergency abortions without fear of legal repercussions. Patients no longer have assurance that they’ll receive care in time. The protections under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) were never perfect, but they were a lifeline. Today, that lifeline has been cut.

While the EMTALA guidance technically applied to pregnant patients, the chilling effect goes further. Because the same procedure — a dilation and curettage, or D&C — is used to treat many non-pregnancy conditions like fibroids or PCOS, some doctors and hospitals had already begun delaying care for any patient who might trigger legal scrutiny. In this environment, the question isn’t just whether a woman is pregnant. It’s whether her doctor feels safe enough to help her.

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On June 3, 2025, the Trump administration rescinded EMTALA protections that guaranteed emergency abortion care for life-threatening cases.

Doctors in abortion-ban states now face legal risk for providing care. Patients face deadly delays.

The U.S. already has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world; the repeal of EMTALA will make it even more dangerous to be pregnant in America.

This isn’t just about abortion. It’s about survival.

Why Emergency Guidance Became Essential

The 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and triggered a patchwork of abortion bans across the country. Suddenly, procedures that had been routine, like treating a miscarriage with a D&C or terminating an ectopic pregnancy, became legally fraught in dozens of states.

Doctors were forced into impossible positions. In Texas, Idaho, and elsewhere, physicians delayed life-saving care until a patient’s condition deteriorated, sometimes fatally, out of fear they’d be sued or prosecuted. Women were told to go home and wait until they were actively dying before hospitals could intervene.

It was in this climate of fear that the Biden administration issued EMTALA guidance in 2022. The clarification reminded hospitals that under federal law, they were obligated to provide emergency stabilizing care, including abortion, when a pregnant patient’s life or health was at risk. It was not a new law. It was a line of defense.

Conditions covered included ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, severe hemorrhage, and sepsis, all medical emergencies where abortion care could be life-saving. However, its impact extended further. It reassured emergency physicians that if they acted quickly to save a patient, the law would be on their side. It gave patients a degree of protection. Most importantly, it gave clarity where chaos had taken root.

“The Trump administration cannot simply erase four decades of law protecting patients’ lives with the stroke of a pen. Regardless of where they live, pregnant patients have a right to emergency abortion care that will save their health or lives. By rescinding this guidance, the Trump administration has sent a clear signal that it is siding not with the majority, but with its anti-abortion allies — and that will come at the expense of women’s lives.”
— ACLU Press Release, Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, Deputy Director, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

What Was Protected & Why It Matters

When most people think of abortion, they think of elective procedures. However, much of what was shielded under EMTALA had nothing to do with choice and everything to do with survival.

Ectopic pregnancies, where a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, can rupture and cause fatal internal bleeding if not treated immediately. Miscarriages, especially incomplete ones, can lead to hemorrhage and sepsis. Fibroids and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can cause uncontrolled uterine bleeding that, in some cases, requires emergency intervention.

The treatment for these emergencies is often the same procedure used in elective abortions: a dilation and curettage (D&C). That overlap became a legal minefield in states with broad abortion bans.

“This action sends a clear message: the lives and health of pregnant people are not worth protecting. Complying with this law can mean the difference between life and death for pregnant people, forcing providers like me to choose between caring for someone in their time of need and turning my back on them to comply with cruel and dangerous laws.”

-Dr Jamila Perritt, an OB-GYN and the president of Physicians for Reproductive Health

Under EMTALA, hospitals were reminded that if a pregnant patient showed up in crisis, they had to act, regardless of the state’s abortion law. That federal guarantee, while imperfect, provided doctors with a tool to overcome hospital hesitancy, legal departments, and political pressure. It saved time. And in emergency care, time is everything.

What Happened in States With Restrictive Abortion Laws

After Dobbs, states with abortion bans promised to protect life. The aftermath, however, tells another story.

In Texas, within a year of the state’s abortion ban going into effect, reports showed a dramatic spike in sepsis cases among women experiencing second-trimester pregnancy loss. Doctors delayed treatment, waiting until patients’ conditions worsened enough to legally justify intervention.

Amber Nicole Thurman in Georgia died from septic shock after a hospital delayed a D&C for over 20 hours, fearing legal repercussions under the state’s six-week ban. A state review later found her death was preventable.

In Idaho, hospitals began turning away pregnant patients altogether. Some doctors were instructed to wait until a patient was near death before performing an abortion. The legal ambiguity made emergency care a legal risk.

The question changed from can doctors save her life to is she close enough to death for them to even try.

These cases aren’t rare outliers. They’re part of a larger pattern: where abortion is banned, life-saving care is delayed. Doctors are paralyzed. Hospitals are cautious. Patients, especially women in crisis, bear the brunt of the consequences.

“The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw EMTALA guidance guaranteeing pregnant people medical care in emergency situations will sow confusion for providers and endanger the lives and health of pregnant ... . Every American deserves the right to access the necessary care in emergency scenarios, including pregnant people, without political interference.”
— ACLU Press Release, Skye Perryman, President & CEO, Democracy Forward

And because abortion-related procedures like D&Cs are also used to treat non-pregnancy conditions, the fallout extends to anyone who might need urgent gynecological care, including those with PCOS, fibroids, and severe bleeding. Doctors and the hospital’s legal department began to ask not whether the bleeding can be stemmed, but rather, will the court think this looks like an abortion?

We’ve covered the ongoing women’s healthcare battle before. See some of our articles here:
Note: These articles are more than 45 days old and now live in our archive. Consider becoming a paid subscriber for the entire 600+ article archive, exclusive content, and occasional early access.
If Republicans Were Really Pro-Life...
Marie Riverton
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Feb 22
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From Bans to Criminal Charges—The Next Phase of Abortion Crackdowns
Mar 1
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How the U.S. Compares Globally

The United States spends more on maternity care than any other developed country. It also has the highest maternal mortality rate.

In 2023, the U.S. recorded 18.6 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. In Finland, that number was 3.8. In Sweden, 4.4. In France and Germany, under 9. Even the United Kingdom, with all its National Health Service woes, came in at 9.2.

These nations have something else in common: universal healthcare and legal abortion access.

Their systems ensure that every pregnant person gets prenatal care early, that labor and delivery are supported by trained staff, and that complications, like hemorrhage or sepsis, are managed immediately. They invest in midwifery, postpartum care, mental health services, and parental leave.

The U.S., meanwhile, offers a fragmented system of private insurers, state-by-state restrictions, and laws that blur the lines between healthcare and criminal activity.

And it shows in the outcomes. A pregnant person in America is twice as likely to die as one in Canada or the UK, and five times as likely as one in Scandinavia.

If you're Black in America, the numbers are even worse. Black women in the U.S. die at three times the rate of white women, a disparity seen even when income, education, and insurance are the same. Racial inequity is not a side effect of our maternal health crisis. It is a driving force.

Women’s healthcare is just one part of the picture. See our reporting on the troubling changes at the federal health agencies here:
The Cleanser: Roger Severino and the Holy War on Health
Marie Riverton
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May 23
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Disposable America: How a HHS Shakeup is Gutting Public Health
Marie Riverton
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Apr 3
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Who the U.S. Resembles Instead

With its wealth, medical innovation, and global power, the United States should be setting the standard for maternal health. Instead, we’re outliers and not in the way anyone should want.

Our maternal mortality rate doesn’t align with France, Germany, or Japan. It tracks closer to Hungary, Chile, and Colombia, countries with higher inequality, weaker healthcare infrastructure, and in many cases, restrictive abortion laws.

In Hungary, the maternal mortality rate is 15.2 per 100,000. In Chile, it’s 22.1. In Colombia, 50.7. These nations share characteristics the U.S. is increasingly adopting: fragmented care systems, political interference in reproductive health, and deep disparities between rich and poor.

This comparison isn’t meant to demean those nations. It’s to illustrate what happens when a country underinvests in women’s health and overregulates doctors trying to provide it.

The U.S. has the resources to do better. But in too many ways, we’re choosing not to.

An American woman would have a better chance of surviving pregnancy in Hungary than in Missouri.

That shouldn’t be possible, but it is.

Before Dobbs, There Was Disregard

The crisis we’re in didn’t begin with Dobbs or EMTALA. It’s the latest chapter in a much longer story, one where women’s health has consistently been underfunded, understudied, and undervalued.

Diseases that disproportionately affect women, like endometriosis, autoimmune disorders, and PCOS, receive a fraction of the research dollars compared to male-focused conditions. Medical trials have historically excluded women. Pain reported by female patients is more likely to be dismissed or misdiagnosed.

The result is a system that wasn’t built to understand women’s bodies, and now, in some states, is legally barred from treating them properly.

It’s no wonder, then, that when reproductive care became politicized, women’s health was already standing on shaky ground.

We didn’t just strip away protections. We did it after decades of neglect.

What This All Means & What the Solution Really Looks Like

The data is clear. The stories are human. The pattern is undeniable.

Women in the United States are dying, not because we lack the tools to save them, but because we lack the will to treat them like they matter.

We have doctors trained to intervene. We have hospitals equipped to act. What we don’t have is a system or a legal framework that lets them do their jobs without fear.

This is not about “too many abortions.” It’s about too little care, too many delays, too much political interference, and too little accountability.

We don’t need more restrictions. We need universal healthcare. We need equitable prenatal and emergency care. We need to stop criminalizing providers for performing medically necessary procedures.

And we need to remember that this doesn’t happen in isolation. When a woman suffers, her partner suffers. Her children grieve. Her friends and family mourn. Communities are broken by grief and preventable loss.

Some who support abortion bans do so in theory, but theory evaporates when it’s your wife in the ER, your daughter in pain, or your sister hemorrhaging while a doctor calls a lawyer.

This isn’t a thought experiment. This is our reality.

The job of a doctor is to save a life, not to assess political risk. A woman is bleeding in front of you. You help her. That should be the end of the story.

In other developed nations, it is. Yet here, where we claim to have moral and inherent superiority, women suffer, lose their fertility, and die.

And I offer this bitter reality: dead women can’t carry your babies.