The federal government has initiated an investigation into whether a Missouri hospital violated federal rules when denying a woman having a medical crisis an abortion.
The Missouri investigation is the first confirmed investigation over a denied abortion under new guidance from the Biden administration that such procedures must be provided in emergencies under federal law. It is likely to serve as the Biden administration’s test case for how the policy can be used to go after hospitals and providers that deny individuals emergency abortions regardless of state abortion bans, as it could run into a legal challenge from the Republican-led state.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service authorized the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to launch an investigation into Freeman Hospital in Joplin in late October under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, department spokeswoman Lisa Cox confirmed to the Washington Examiner. The 1986 law requires hospitals and physicians to provide medical screening or stabilizing treatment for an emergency medical condition, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay, including providing abortion care, per the new guidance from the Biden administration.
WHAT TO KNOW AS THE 10TH ANNUAL OPEN ENROLLMENT STARTS FOR OBAMACARE
The hospital is being investigated for its treatment of Mylissa Farmer, a woman who went into the emergency room when her water broke months early in her pregnancy. Doctors told Farmer that the fetus would not survive due to the complication but refused to terminate the pregnancy, citing Missouri law, despite saying that “awaiting a medical emergency may put her at further risk for maternal mortality,” according to medical records obtained by the Associated Press. Farmer ultimately traveled to nearby Illinois to receive an abortion.
Abortions are prohibited in Missouri, except in cases of life endangerment or when the patient’s health is severely compromised, under a state law that went into effect in June. The law leaves the burden on providers to prove that any abortions conducted qualify for the exceptions.
The administration has used EMTALA as an avenue to protect access to abortions nationwide in emergency situations. Earlier this year, the Biden administration issued guidance asserting that EMTALA ensures that hospitals in the federally funded Medicare program are required to provide abortion care when a woman’s life or health is at stake, superseding state bans on the procedure. Those that don’t comply could face monetary fines or termination from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
“Where a state purports to prohibit providers from offering the emergency care that EMTALA requires, HHS will not hesitate to refer the matter to the Department of Justice to take appropriate legal action,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure wrote in a letter to state governors.
As part of the Missouri investigation, state health investigators will collect medical records, patient logs, and hospital documents from the hospital and conduct interviews with staff members, though any findings will be evaluated by a federal employee with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The investigation could provoke a legal challenge from the Republican-led state. If so, it would add to the number of legal challenges against the guidance. In August, a federal judge in Texas blocked the Biden administration from enforcing the guidance in the state, arguing it goes “well beyond EMTALA’s text,” but declined to rule on its legality nationwide.
Farmer’s story has already been publicized in political ads by Democratic Senate candidate Trudy Busch Valentine, who has campaigned on defending access to abortion.
