National medical org asks to join Tennessee lawsuit to advocate for abortion access
Doctors for America is trying to join a Tennessee lawsuit to ensure women can get abortions when their lives or health depend on the procedure.
The organization is a national collection of more than 30,000 medical professionals that advocates for policies that expand access to affordable health care.
Doctors for America on May 30 asked to intervene in a lawsuit brought by a different health care group, the Catholic Medical Association, which opposes abortion access. Catholic Medical Association sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 10 looking to overturn a 2022 directive that federal law requires hospitals provide abortions if doing so is necessary to stabilize a medical crisis.
'Doctors should not be forced to choose between following the law and saving a patient's life,' Dr. Christine Petrin, president of Doctors for America, said in a news release.
Doctors for America is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, the National Women's Law Center and Democracy Forward.
Doctors for America explained in its May 30 filing it is intervening now because of the change in presidential administrations.
"DFA cannot rely on the federal government to adequately defend (its) interests," the court filing states.
More: What are abortion laws in Tennessee and where is the procedure legal?
The law at question here is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a 1986 federal law often referred to as EMTALA. The law ensures the public can access emergency health care even if they cannot pay.
In the wake of the overturning of Roe V. Wade in 2022, during President Joe Biden's administration, HHS issued guidance that EMTALA requires that emergency rooms that accept Medicaid provide abortions when they are medically necessary, even if doing so violates a state law prohibiting abortion.
That guidance was challenged in court and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the justices declined to give a ruling on it.
It seems likely the current iteration of the HHS under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will reverse the previous administration's position.
In a filing in this lawsuit in April, it wrote, "New leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services is actively considering how best to respond to the Complaint ... including to evaluate whether it may be possible to resolve this case without litigation" — meaning the Catholic Medical Association may get what it wants through a policy change.
The Catholic Medical Association has argued that the 2022 guidance ensuring access to medically necessary abortion care runs afoul of the Supreme Court precedent set in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled there is not a constitutional right to abortion. The Catholic organization said it is urging the court to "allow doctors to perform their life-giving duties without fear of government officials forcing them to violate their beliefs.'
More: Federal judge temporarily blocks part of TN's abortion travel ban on free speech grounds
While most, if not all, state laws allow for abortions to be performed in very limited circumstances, Carrie Flaxman, senior legal advisor at Democracy Forward, said revoking EMTALA's guidance on abortion will "sow confusion for providers."
'Pregnant people have suffered needlessly, and some have died, because of the chaos and confusion that abortion bans have caused for patients and their doctors,' Flaxman said.
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Medical org asks to join TN lawsuit to advocate for abortion access
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