This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A ruling from an appeals court has, for the time being, blocked a scheme by Joe Biden to alter the nation's rules and regulations to force emergency room physicians to become abortionists.
According to a report from the ADF, the ruling is from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case in which Texas challenged Biden's plan to change the rules, under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, to force those abortion procedures.
The ADF called the ruling "a pivotal victory for women, children, and healthcare professionals."
The change-up of the rules was part of Biden's campaign after the Supreme Court overturned the faulty Roe abortion precedent to install abortion mandates throughout the government wherever he could.
Biden's plan essentially said that should someone come into an emergency room wanting an abortion, the physicians would be required to provide that.
The organization represented the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations as well as the state of Texas, asking the court to keep in place a lower court ruling halting the Biden administration from employing the law to force doctors to provide elective abortions in emergency rooms.
The appellate judges agreed.
"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," explained Ryan Bangert, an official for the ADF.
"Doctors shouldn’t be forced to break the Hippocratic Oath, and they shouldn’t have to choose between violating their deeply held beliefs or facing stiff financial penalties and being barred from the Medicare program. 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."
The court's ruling said the EMTALA "does not require emergency room physicians to provide abortions."
Instead, it prevents hospitals from refusing to treat patients who are unable to pay for emergency services—requiring hospitals to stabilize both pregnant women and unborn children in emergencies."
The judges explained, "EMTALA does not mandate any specific type of medical treatment, let alone abortion. We agree with the district court that EMTALA does not provide an unqualified right for the pregnant mother to abort her child especially when EMTALA imposes equal stabilization obligations."
