National Partnership for Women & Families Says Decision Will Worsen Maternal Health Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 6, 2025 – When a health crisis or emergency arises, and when minutes and seconds can be the difference between life or death, it is critical to ensure that patients receive the care that they need quickly and without hesitation. This week, the Trump Administration made this task harder by revoking guidance clarifying that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) applies in cases where abortion care is necessary to stabilize a patient, even when there is a state abortion ban in place. Eliminating this guidance, put in place by the Biden Administration, will inevitably lead to more chaos and confusion around when and whether providers can offer emergency abortion care to their patients.

For nearly 40 years, EMTALA has required that providers give necessary stabilizing treatment to people in emergencies, including medically necessary, lifesaving interventions like abortion. But against the backdrop of the abortion bans enacted following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, providers and health care systems are struggling to implement the requirements of EMTALA – forced to decide between providing the standard of care or risking criminalization. While EMTALA is still the law of the land, this uncertainty puts pregnant people’s future fertility, health and very lives at risk.

“It is unconscionable that this Administration is making it harder to access lifesaving care, especially in light of our country’s ongoing maternal health crisis,” said Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “In moments of crisis, no one should have to worry about whether their doctors will be able to act quickly to provide emergency care. Anyone who is pregnant deserves access to all essential obstetric and gynecological care and services without interference from politicians. Now this access is being severely undermined and compromised by abortion bans being implemented through health care systems where there were already barriers to equitable care for people with low incomes and people of color. We’ve already seen the heartbreaking consequences of delaying and denying necessary abortion care to patients – from irrevocable health complications and fertility loss to needless deaths. This callous decision from the Trump Administration will only lead to more distress and suffering. The National Partnership will continue to fight for abortion access and the autonomy of pregnant people to control their own bodies and exercise their reproductive freedom.”

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