(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration told hospitals and health care providers Tuesday they’re legally required to perform abortions for pregnant women experiencing medical emergencies.

Health and Human Service Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure sent a letter to providers reminding them of their legal duty to offer stabilizing medical treatment, including abortions, to patients at hospitals that participate in Medicare, the US health-care program for seniors. The protections have been in place for 40 years, they wrote. 

“No pregnant woman or her family should have to even begin to worry that she could be denied the treatment she needs to stabilize her emergency medical condition in the emergency room,” the letter said. “As health care providers, you know better than anyone how crucial it is for anyone experiencing a medical emergency to receive appropriate care and to receive it quickly.”

The move comes after a Supreme Court ruling last week that prevented Idaho from enforcing an abortion ban in medical emergencies. Idaho has one of the most restrictive policies in the US, making it a crime to perform abortions for health emergencies unless it’s to save the woman’s life.

The state law clashed with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, designed to ensure that hospitals provide emergency treatment regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

The tension between EMTALA and Idaho’s near-total abortion ban has created problems for doctors and hospitals who say patients receive poor quality care because of the uncertainty created by laws that threaten doctors with the revocation of their medical license or prison time.

Investigating Complaints

As the Biden administration continues to defend its interpretation of EMTALA in court, Becerra and Brooks-LaSure said CMS will investigate complaints about hospitals that aren’t complying with the federal law. When state law prohibits abortion and doesn’t include an exception for the life and health of a pregnant person, the state law will be overridden, the officials said.

CMS also published new informational resources on its website, in both English and Spanish, to help patients understand their rights and make filing a complaint more accessible. 

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