The Trump administration just overturned a highly controversial Biden-era policy, and pro-lifers are cheering it on.

President Donald Trump’s Tuesday reversal targeted redefinitions of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) that had stirred intense debate over abortion funding and medical ethics.

Under the Biden administration, EMTALA was reinterpreted in July 2022 to allow taxpayer dollars to fund what were termed “emergency abortions.” This guidance not only permitted federal funding for these procedures but also imposed penalties on health care workers and hospitals that refused to carry them out, even when such actions conflicted with their deeply held moral or religious convictions. The policy effectively compelled medical professionals to act against their conscience, creating a moral and legal dilemma for those who prioritize the protection of unborn life.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a joint statement following Trump’s executive order, announcing the rescission of the July 2022 CMS guidance titled “Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specific to Patients who are Pregnant or are Experiencing Pregnancy Loss.” The agencies emphasized their intent to restore clarity to the application of EMTALA, stating, “CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”

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Moving forward, the Trump administration affirmed that EMTALA would continue to be utilized, but in a manner consistent with its original intent — to ensure emergency medical care without mandating procedures that conflict with ethical principles or state laws.

Trump’s move has received criticism. Critics argue that the reversal undermines access to critical health care services, particularly in the wake of the 2022 Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion regulation to the states. Amy Friedrich-Karnik of the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion organization, stated, “EMTALA’s importance has only increased as our nation reckons with the fallout from the Dobbs decision, which has led to a fractured and chaotic abortion access landscape.”

She claimed that the policy reversal could exacerbate challenges for women seeking emergency care in states with restrictive abortion laws. Similarly, Alexa Kolbi-Molinas of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) condemned the move, as reported by Axios, saying, “[T]he administration sent a clear signal that it is siding with its anti-abortion allies — a move the group said will come at the expense of women’s lives.”

In contrast, pro-life advocates have hailed the executive order as a restoration of both legal integrity and moral clarity. Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, took to X, posting that the Trump administration’s move “ends years of pro-abortion lawfare against pro-life states and doctors, as well as the lie that pro-life states deny emergency care to pregnant women.”

“Let’s be clear,” she added, “every pro-life state already protects moms in medical emergencies. This mandate was never about care or saving lives — it was about coercion & pushing abortion into every hospital, by force.”

The Heritage Foundation’s Roger Severino, a former Trump administration official, also celebrated the move. “Wide majorities of Americans oppose forcing doctors and hospitals to take innocent human life,” he said, “and this change goes back to respecting conscience and the rule of law.” When following its original intent, “EMTALA requires hospitals to treat unborn children and mothers in labor.” But as Severino went on to explain, “shamelessly, abortion radicals inverted this clearly pro-life law to unlawfully mandate abortion nationwide, even though every state already has life of the mother exceptions.”

“To add insult to injury,” Severino stressed, “the Biden order refused to acknowledge that the law protected mothers, or even women, instead calling them ‘pregnant patients.’ A stain on America’s conscience is now gone, and good riddance.”

This enthusiasm was echoed by Mary Szoch, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, who spoke to The Washington Stand about the significance of the policy shift. “Killing an unborn child has never been and never will be health care,” she asserted. Szoch described the executive order as part of a “growing list of common-sense changes” implemented by the Trump administration to protect both unborn children, mothers, and the conscience rights of medical professionals.

“Thank goodness President Trump was elected,” she concluded. “Now, the government is no longer attempting to force doctors to kill their patients. Praise God!”

LifeNews Note: Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand, where this originally appeared.