Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 27, 2024 10:57 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Melissa L. Shusterman and Rep. Arvind Venkat |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Codifying Emergency Abortion Care Protections for Pennsylvanians |
| Today, the US Supreme Court refused to affirm long-standing emergency care protections. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) was specifically passed during the Reagan Administration in response to the inappropriate inter-hospital transfer of patients in need of emergency care due to their lack of financial resources (patient dumping). One particular reason EMTALA was enacted was in response to cases of dumping those in active labor from one hospital to another. In the case Moyle v. US (Idaho v. US), the Supreme Court refused to decide whether state laws that restrict abortion can keep physicians and the hospitals where they practice from providing abortion as necessary emergency care to stabilize pregnant individuals with emergency conditions. This delay by the Court only reinforces the uncertainty and chaos in delivering emergency care to millions of Americans. Physicians and hospitals will always shy away from legal, and especially criminal, liability when there is uncertainty about whether they may be liable in doing their job. Care of women with emergency conditions, by necessity, must include abortion for diagnoses as wide ranging as pre-eclampsia, pregnancy-related cardiomyopathy, previable premature rupture of membranes, ectopic pregnancies, and many more. As a result of this refusal of the US Supreme Court to make a decision, in nearly half the country, women’s health, fertility, and lives continue to be at risk and healthcare chaos reigns. The only available option is for states to codify the same protections as EMTALA and specify that such protections include abortion and other reproductive healthcare. In this way, Pennsylvanians can be reassured that their emergency care will not be jeopardized by draconian attempts to restrict abortion. Illinois recently passed a law codifying these protections and our bill will do the same. Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation to preserve emergency care and the health, fertility, and lives of Pennsylvanians. |
Introduced as HB2465
Memo Updated: June 27, 2024 10:59 AM