Hamilton: Women’s health and privacy face even greater threat from SCOTUS and Indiana GOP

Wednesday, April 24, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that challenges a federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). 

The lawsuit, brought by the State of Idaho, claims that this law interferes with their state’s near-total abortion ban. EMTALA, a law passed under President Ronald Reagan, requires Medicare-funded hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to patients in a medical emergency. States that have passed abortion bans with no exemption for health of the mother, such as Indiana’s 2022 abortion ban, claim that EMTALA may require hospitals to violate their abortion ban to treat a pregnant woman undergoing a medical emergency. 

“During the 2022 abortion special session, when Indiana Republicans passed one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation, we listened to hour after heartbreaking hour of medical professionals warning of the consequences an abortion ban would have on women’s access to necessary health care. If the United States Supreme Court rules against the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, pregnant women experiencing crises like sepsis or preeclampsia would be denied access to treatment available to other patients in a medical emergency. 

“Let’s be clear: Access to abortion when a woman’s health is at stake is about supporting expecting mothers in Indiana. If you can’t rely on healthcare to protect your long-term health during a pregnancy-related emergency, why would you take the risk of giving birth in Indiana? It is the fundamental purpose of healthcare to protect a patient's overall wellbeing. In what other scenario would it be acceptable to only treat someone once they are near death, which can lead to life altering conditions like brain damage or infertility?” 

Also this week, several Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidates pledged to make Terminated Pregnancy Reports (TPRs) accessible to the public. This would reverse a policy of the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) that seeks to protect individuals’ privacy by keeping patient medical records confidential. 

“When Indiana’s near-total abortion ban went into effect, abortions dropped by 97%. Between October and December of 2023, there were only 46 abortions performed. Due to the extremely low number of procedures performed, releasing this information would make it possible to identify the women who received abortions. To receive an abortion under Indiana law, women must have endured extreme trauma as victims of rape or incest, or been through a near-death experience that cost them a child they desperately wanted. If they were identified through these records, they would have permanent targets on their back and their safety would be at risk. 

“A woman’s medical records are private, confidential medical records. Full stop.”