Prevent Denials of Care
Overview
The U.S. has seen an increase in laws and administrative policies that seek to deny access to healthcare under moral and religious objections. For example, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that requires Medicare-participating hospitals with emergency departments to provide stabilizing treatment to any individual who arrives at the hospital experiencing an emergency medical condition. This includes a pregnant person experiencing an emergency for which abortion is the appropriate stabilizing treatment.
However, anti-abortion politicians have brought litigation to threaten EMTALA and passed state and federal laws carving out reproductive and gender affirming care under religious and moral objection clauses. Therefore states should do everything possible to stop denials of care and prevent healthcare discrimination.
Additional Resources
- SiX’s resource Religious Hospitals Denial of Care One Pager examines how reproductive healthcare access is being restricted in some faith-based hospital settings.