Leaked EMTALA Decision Nothing More Than Election Year Punt

The decision leaked today, if accurate, is a cynical delay designed more to protect the political prospects of MAGA Republicans than the health of pregnant people needing emergency care. The Supreme Court had the chance — indeed the duty — to make clear that EMTALA (the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) is the law of the land and that state abortion bans do not supersede the need of medical facilities to provide emergency care that may include abortion. But they didn’t. They simply delayed until after the election when Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas and their MAGA colleagues can get back to doing their patrons’ bidding without harming their electoral prospects. 

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