Texas Accuses US of Skirting Dobbs With Emergency Abortion Rules

The US should be blocked from enforcing a nationwide mandate that requires hospitals to provide abortions in emergency situations, even in states where the procedure is illegal, Texas said.

The US Department of Health and Human Services improperly invoked the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act to issue a “novel and unlawful” guidance undermining the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Texas said in a brief responding to Secretary Xavier Becerra’s appeal from a preliminary injunction.

Dobbs gave states the ability to ban abortion, but a July 2022 HHS guidance document said that ...