(The Center Square) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, along with 21 other Democratic attorneys general, is reminding hospitals they’re required to provide emergency abortion care.
Mayes was among those who signed a letter about abortion to American Hospital Association President Richard Pollack.
The attorneys general sent the letter Tuesday, which coincided with the third anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. With the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the issue of abortion was returned to the states.
Mayes and the other Democrats told America’s largest hospital association that it needed to ensure hospitals were complying with the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
This law, according to the attorneys general, requires hospitals to “provide critical and necessary health care in emergency medical situations,” including abortion care to women to prevent harm to the mother’s health.
In May, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rescinded a 2022 regulatory guidance that reminded hospitals they need to comply with EMTALA.
Even with the reminder being withdrawn, the letter noted Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the law did not change and that hospitals need to follow EMTALA.
The attorneys general claimed the Trump administration rescinding this regulatory guidance was an attempt to “sow confusion.”
This letter states continued compliance with EMTALA is “critical.”
“The law is clear: Hospitals subject to EMTALA have an obligation to provide timely abortion care when necessary to stabilize a patient experiencing an emergency medical condition,” the letter says.
As attorney general, Mayes said she will use every legal tool at her disposal to protect women’s right to get an abortion and not punish anyone who gets these procedures.
According to Human Life International, the number of women who receive this type of abortion is small. Only 1.14% of women got an abortion to save their life or due to physical health.
While the vast majority of abortions are performed in person, the number of women getting abortions by telehealth is on the rise. A report from the Society of Family Planning showed 25% of abortions were done by telehealth at the end of last year.
In addition to this, the report found abortions had increased in 2024 compared to 2023 and 2022.
On the Dobbs decision’s third anniversary, Gov. Katie Hobbs released a statement saying she will protect the right of women to choose an abortion. Hobbs said she trusts “women to make the decisions that are best for them and their families.”
Last year, Arizonans passed Proposition 139, which enshrined the right to an abortion in the state Constitution.
Besides Mayes, the attorney generals signing the letter to the hospital association include Rob Bonta of California. Bonta co-led the letter with attorneys general from New York and New Jersey.
“When a medical emergency happens, patients must be assured that they can access life-saving care when they go to the hospital – that includes emergency abortion care,” Bonta said in a news release. “Despite the Trump Administration’s attempt to sow confusion and fear among providers, EMTALA remains the law of the land and its obligations are clear: Hospitals must continue to provide emergency abortion care to prevent serious harm to patients’ health.”
Others signing the letter included attorney generals from Colorado and Nevada.
