Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has achieved a significant legal victory, safeguarding the rights of Texas hospitals and doctors to refuse performing abortions that are against state law. The Supreme Court of the United States decided not to hear arguments in a case challenging an injunction that prevents the Biden-Harris Administration from enforcing abortion guidance deemed unlawful.
The guidance, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), aimed to compel medical providers to perform abortions in violation of state law under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). This federal law ensures hospitals provide essential emergency care regardless of a patient's ability to pay but does not address abortion. The administration's attempt could have led to financial penalties for Texas medical institutions, such as exclusion from Medicare, if they refused compliance with this federal mandate.
Attorney General Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris Administration over this guidance in July 2022. A federal district court blocked the guidance with an injunction in August 2022, which was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in January 2024. The Supreme Court's refusal to review the administration's appeal maintains this injunction.
"This is a major victory at SCOTUS that will protect Texas medical providers from being forced to violate State law," stated Attorney General Paxton. "No Texas doctor should be forced to violate his or her conscience or the law just to do their job. We successfully sued and stopped the Biden-Harris Administration’s backdoor attempt to overrule State abortion laws."