BALTIMORE – Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown took steps in allowing access to abortion care during medical emergencies. As part of a multistate coalition of 24 attorneys general, Attorney General Brown filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in Idaho v. U.S. and Moyle v. U.S., urging the court to maintain a preliminary injunction that required Idaho hospitals to provide emergency abortion care consistent with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
In the brief, the coalition claims that abortion care has always been considered emergency care under EMTALA and applying Idaho’s abortion ban in circumstances qualifying as emergencies under EMTALA harms patients as well as health systems generally.
“Denying pregnant patients’ abortion care when their life is at risk is cruel,” said Attorney General Brown. “I am dedicated to protecting patients’ rights, and ensuring everyone has access to emergency care so we don’t create a public health crisis.”
Every hospital in the United States with an emergency department that participates in Medicare is subject to EMTALA. Under the law, emergency rooms are required to provide all patients who have an emergency medical condition with the treatment required, including administering abortion care, to stabilize a patient’s condition. The Idaho law at issue, however, criminalizes abortion care in nearly all situations, including when a pregnant patient experiences an emergency medical condition and requires an abortion to prevent serious harm to their health.
In the brief, the coalition claims that denying patients emergency abortion care harms pregnant patients and endangers their lives.
In filing the brief, Attorney General Brown joins the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.