The Biden administration has been working on several fronts to protect pregnant women ever since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
After the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to an abortion, the Biden administration turned to a longstanding federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, in a frantic effort to ensure abortion access for women in dire medical circumstances. The White House has argued that to comply with the law, hospitals must provide emergency abortions for pregnant women who need them to save their lives or reproductive organs, despite state abortion bans.
HHS has sent letters to hospitals repeatedly reminding them of that law and the penalties — up to $129,232 per violation or loss of Medicare funding — for flouting it.
The government also rolled out a new website making it easier for patients to file a complaint if they are rejected, and it promised to expediate those investigations.
So, the good intent is there. But the enforcement is so far lacking teeth:
A Reagan-era federal law that prevents hospitals from denying care to patients in need has been violated by dozens of hospitals that turned away or mistreated more than 100 pregnant patients in the past two years, according to government investigators. None of the hospitals faced penalties from the federal government.
Here’s a basic example of a violation:
Last year, for example, HHS announced that two facilities — Freeman Health System in Joplin, Missouri, and University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas — ran afoul of the federal law after refusing an emergency abortion to Mylissa Farmer.
Doctors at both hospitals told the 41-year old Missouri woman that her baby had no chance of surviving after her water broke at 17 weeks but because a fetal heartbeat was still detectable, her condition needed to worsen before they’d be willing to terminate her pregnancy.
These hospitals have not been fined, nor have they lost their Medicare funding. An investigation of Ms. Farmer’s case is being conducted by HHS’s Inspector General. Apparently, that single office is responsible for dealing with possible violations. This is not going to cut it.
On a positive note, there would probably be thousands more women being denied emergency care if the administration were not proactively communicating with hospitals. I have serious doubts that a second Trump administration would keep that as a priority.
