On Sunday, Biden said he had asked his administration to consider whether he has authority to declare an abortion-related public health emergency.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday declaring a public health emergency would not necessarily free up resources, citing the experience of heavy federal spending for the government’s response to COVID-19 and monkey pox.
“It also doesn’t release a significant amount of legal authority,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “And so that’s why we haven’t taken that action yet.”
Still, she added: “Everything is on the table.”
The White House has been under pressure from Biden’s own party to take action after the Supreme Court decision last month. Protecting abortion rights is a top issue for women Democrats, Reuters polling shows, and more than 70 per cent of Americans think the issue should be left to a woman and her doctor.
In a separate letter to providers, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said EMTALA protects healthcare providers’ clinical judgment regardless of the restrictions in the state where they practice.
Becerra wrote a physician or other qualified medical personnel’s professional and legal duty to “provide stabilizing medical treatment … preempts any directly conflicting state law or mandate that might otherwise prohibit such treatment.”
