McClellan Statement on Supreme Court EMTALA Oral Arguments

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) issued the following statement as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the consolidated cases, Idaho v. United StatesandMoyle v. United States, to determine if the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) preempts Idaho’s law criminalizing most abortions in the state: 

“Since Trump-appointed judges on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, we have seen widespread attacks on reproductive freedom and an alarming rise in restrictive laws that jeopardize the health and well-being of the American people. We are in the midst of a reproductive health crisis created and exacerbated by extreme Republican politicians and conservative judges. This decision will determine patients’ ability to receive emergency medical services and will have a profound impact on health care in America.

“For decades, EMTALA has provided patients facing a medical emergency with the peace of mind of knowing that they are entitled to all necessary stabilizing treatments. That includes abortion care when that is the only option to save a patient’s life. Attempts to undermine patients’ rights to comprehensive emergency medical care are irresponsible, dangerous, and unconscionable, particularly in the nation with the highest maternal mortality rates of any high-income country in the world.  

“The Supreme Court will now decide whether to uphold federal law and protect patients’ rights or radically narrow EMTALA, blatantly disregard federal law, and strip pregnant patients of their right to lifesaving emergency health care services. The choice should be clear. 

“I recently joined over 200 congressional Democrats in filing an amicus brief asserting that EMTALA requires hospitals to provide abortion care when it is part of necessary emergency medical treatment. Today, I reiterate that call and urge the justices to protect the fundamental rights of patients across America.” 

Background: The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals to provide all necessary stabilizing treatments to patients who present to their emergency rooms. In March 2023, McClellan joined 257 congressional Democrats in an amicus brief in support of the district court decision affirming that EMTALA supersedes state law.