5th Circuit Court to Women: Drop Dead.

Wed, 01/03/2024 - 12:08pm

I tried to come up with a less inflammatory headline. I really did. But in the end this is what it comes down to. Via Eleanor Klibanoff of the Texas Tribune:

Emergency rooms not required to perform life-saving abortions, federal appeals court rules

The Biden administration reminded hospitals of their obligation to perform life-saving abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Texas sued, arguing it was an overstep that mandated abortions.

Federal regulations do not require emergency rooms to perform life-saving abortions if it would run afoul of state law, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent hospitals guidance, reminding them of their obligation to offer stabilizing care, including medically necessary abortions, under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

“When a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life of the pregnant person — or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition — that state law is preempted,” the guidance said.

...Tuesday’s ruling, authored by Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt, said the court “decline[d] to expand the scope of EMTALA.”

“We agree with the district court that EMTALA does not provide an unqualified right for the pregnant mother to abort her child,” Englehardt wrote. “EMTALA does not mandate medical treatments, let alone abortion care, nor does it preempt Texas law.”

That's right: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that doctors are not required to save pregnant womens lives if they don't want to.

All I can add to this are the following facts:

There are around 870 federal judges in the United States, all of whom have lifetime appointments.

Of those, President Biden has confirmed 166 (19%) so far and is expected to nominate another 86 in the remainder of his first term, or 29% of the total.

Another 227 (26% of the total) were appointed by Donald Trump, including 2 of the 3 judges on the 5th Circuit who made this ruling (the third was appointed by George W. Bush).