Texas Judge Blocks Health And Human Services' Emergency Abortion Guidance

A federal judge in Texas has blocked abortion guidance issued by the Department of Health and Human Services after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Under the guidance, hospitals were required to provide emergency abortions to women even if abortion is illegal in the state.

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled that the guidance went beyond the scope of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.

"That guidance goes well beyond EMTALA's text, which protects both mothers and unborn children, is silent as to abortion, and preempts state law only when the two directly conflict. Since the statute is silent on the question, the Guidance cannot answer how doctors should weigh risks to both a mother and her unborn child. Nor can it, in doing so, create a conflict with state law where one does not exist," Hendrix wrote in his opinion.

Hendrix said that his ruling only applies in Texas. The Biden administration has not commented on the decision but is expected to appeal the decision.

A ruling in a similar case in Idaho is expected to be released on Wednesday (August 24).