Texas sues to block Biden from requiring doctors to provide abortions in medical emergencies

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a news conference after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in President Joe Biden’s bid to rescind a Trump-era immigration policy that forced migrants to stay in Mexico to await U.S. hearings on their asylum claims, in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2022. 

Texas asked a federal court to block the requirement that doctors and hospitals provide abortions in medical emergencies.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the Attorney General argued that federal law doesn't give women the right to an abortion.

Three days after the Secretary of Health and Human Services warned hospitals and physicians that they are required to provide abortions in medical emergencies where it is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman, a lawsuit was filed. Hospitals and physicians who don't comply could have their agreements terminated.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act protects abortion access in emergencies. The law does not require any specific treatment, according to Paxton.

In 1925, Texas became the first state in the country to make abortion illegal. Penalties and lawsuits are used to enforce the ban.

In the coming weeks, Texas will have a law that makes abortion a felony and could lead to life imprisonment. If a licensed physician determines that the woman faces a life threatening physical condition, the ban will be lifted.

President Joe Biden ordered the HHS to protect access to abortion. The most concrete step the administration has taken so far is the warning that doctors and hospitals are required to provide abortions in medical emergencies.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of abortion rights. The laws of several other states have been blocked by state courts.

Although most of the state abortion bans make exceptions for when the woman's life is in danger, U.S. health officials worry that doctors could wait too long to treat ectopic pregnancies and stillbirths.