On Aug. 2, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the state of Idaho to block a state abortion law set to take effect on Aug. 25, claiming that it violates the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA).
Under EMTALA, a hospital that receives Medicare funds must provide treatment to patients who present to the hospital’s emergency department with an “emergency medical condition.” The DOJ explains that “emergency medical conditions” under EMTALA “include not just conditions that present risks to life but also those that place a patient’s ‘health’ in ‘serious jeopardy’ or risk ‘serious impairment to bodily functions’ or ‘serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.’”
Read the full alert.