WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Jan. 2 that emergency room doctors are not required to perform abortions, going against guidance issued by the Biden administration that said these doctors could perform abortions, even in states where the procedure is banned, to stabilize the health of the mother.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans sided with the state of Texas and two pro-life medical associations in their lawsuit against the Biden administration over the federal guidance issued in July 2022, just after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

At that time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services instructed hospitals that federal law requires doctors to perform abortions if they believe it is “the stabilizing treatment necessary” to protect the health of the mother in an emergency medical situation.

The federal guidance was meant to reinforce the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, or EMTALA, legislation that required emergency rooms to provide stabilizing care even if a patient could not pay for it.

Opponents said the guidance interfered with the state’s right to restrict abortion and was an attempt to expand the federal law’s scope.

In August 2022, a lower court judge agreed with these groups and the state of Texas emphasizing that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act did not specify what a doctor should do when there is a conflict between the health of the mother and her unborn child. The judge also said the Texas abortion ban already includes narrow exceptions to save the mother’s life or prevent serious bodily injury in some cases.

Judge Kurt Engelhardt, one of the judges in the appeals panel, wrote in the 2024 opinion that the federal guidance does not mandate physicians to provide emergency abortions, and it also “does not mandate any specific type of medical treatment, let alone abortion.”

Ryan Bangert, the attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom that represented the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, was pleased with the court’s decision.

In a statement he said: “Hospitals — especially emergency rooms — are tasked with preserving life. The 5th Circuit correctly ruled that the federal government has no business transforming them into abortion clinics.”

He also said, “Emergency room physicians can, and do, treat life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies. But elective abortion is not life-saving care — it ends the life of the unborn child — and the government has no authority to force doctors to perform these dangerous procedures. We are pleased that the courts are allowing emergency rooms to fulfill their primary function — saving lives.”