Illinois hospital emergency departments must continue to provide abortions when necessary to pregnant women whose health is in danger, despite a change in federal guidance earlier this week, state leaders affirmed Wednesday.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s administration rescinded guidance issued while Joe Biden was president that said if a physician felt an abortion was necessary to stabilize a pregnant woman experiencing a medical emergency, the doctor must provide that treatment, even if abortions were against state law. On Tuesday, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a statement that guidance did “not reflect the policy of this Administration.”
The Biden administration issued the guidance in 2022 following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – a decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving it up to states whether to keep abortion legal.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, however, said in a news release Wednesday that “providing the full range of reproductive care for anyone facing life-threatening emergencies is enshrined in state law.”
“This cruel action by the Trump administration creates confusion for healthcare providers and is one more example of how the Dobbs decision has diminished maternal health and healthcare for all (women) across the country,” Pritzker said.
Illinois passed a law last year amending the Illinois Hospital Emergency Service Act to make it clear that that life-saving treatment includes abortion, and Illinois hospitals can be penalized for not following that law.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is now working to make sure hospitals are aware of that state law, according to the release. The state enforces that law mainly by responding to complaints made to the state health department by members of the public.
The federal Centers for Medicare Services said in its statement Tuesday that it “will continue to enforce (the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act), which protects all individuals who present to a hospital emergency department seeking examination or treatment, including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy.”
But the federal agency also said it “will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”
Earlier this week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also released a practice advisory affirming that in certain medical situations, providers must be able to “provide abortion care before the patient becomes critically ill.”
