WEBVTT

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SEEMA MOHAPATRA: So there
are numerous trigger

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laws that went into effect.

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And the biggest change
for Texas' is trigger law

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is that now there is much
greater penalties for abortion

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providers than before.

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Because, essentially, since
Roe v Wade was overturned,

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there has not been access
to abortion in Texas.

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There are criminal penalties.

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There's $100,000 civil penalty.

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And there is loss of licensure
potentially and similar

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restrictions in other states.

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ELIZABETH SEPPER: Idaho's
law has an exception only

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for abortions necessary to
preserve a person's life

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and requires that doctors raise
that as an affirmative defense.

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So after they've been charged
with a criminal abortion,

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they can argue that the
abortion was necessary to save

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someone's life.

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SEEMA MOHAPATRA: EMTALA, the
Emergency Medical Treatment

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and Labor Act, was
basically enacted in order

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to require any
hospitals that get

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any federal funding from
providing any medically

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necessary emergency care.

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Early in July, the
Biden administration

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directed the Department of
Health and Human Services

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to kind of investigate or talk
about how EMTALA is impacted

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by states that are
passing these abortion

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restrictions in
the light of Dobbs

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and Roe v. Wade
being overturned.

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MERRICK GARLAND: In the days
since the Dobbs decision,

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there have been widespread
reports of delays and denials

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of treatment to pregnant
women experiencing

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medical emergencies.

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Today, the Justice
Department's message is clear--

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it does not matter what state
a hospital subject to EMTALA

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operates in.

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If a patient comes
into the emergency room

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with a medical emergency
jeopardizing the patient's life

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or health, the
hospital must provide

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the treatment necessary
to stabilize that patient.

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This includes abortion when
that is the necessary treatment.

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SEEMA MOHAPATRA: This
was not anything new,

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because EMTALA already requires
that if somebody comes in

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with an emergency
condition, that they

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have to be stabilized
before they

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can be left in the hospital.

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ELIZABETH SEPPER: Now,
emergency medical condition

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under federal law includes
things like serious jeopardy

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to the patient's health.

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So this is broader
than the Idaho law,

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for example, which allows
only life-saving treatment.

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That's a little bit
narrower, right?

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There are things
that put your health

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into serious jeopardy that
don't yet rise to the level

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of life-threatening.

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Texas' law has an exception
maybe somewhere in between,

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allowing abortions
where there's a risk

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of serious impairment to a
substantial bodily function.

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Texas filed this lawsuit
to say, well, no, Texas law

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only allows abortions
in situations

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where life is at
stake-- so a narrower

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array of circumstances.

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And Texas basically
argues that this guidance

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from the Biden administration
changes the law--

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that it's a new rule that
applies to hospitals.

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SEEMA MOHAPATRA: What the
Department of Health and Human

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Services sent out,
the statement,

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is not an abortion mandate.

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That's what the state
of Texas is calling

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it-- an abortion mandate.

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It is just restating EMTALA.

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Basically, in the Texas
lawsuit, the judge

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ruled that the HHS guidance,
which cites EMTALA,

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was unauthorized.

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And the judge interpreted that
as going beyond EMTALA's text,

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and then basically
also interpreted

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EMTALA as requiring
a consideration

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of both the pregnant person
and the unborn fetus.

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So essentially, the bottom line
is in Texas, a physician that

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is seeing a patient,
like, let's say

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that had an ectopic
pregnancy, that

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has an incomplete miscarriage,
and that would need a D&C

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or abortion care in
order to be stabilized,

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they would have to wait
until that person is kind

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of near death in order to
not violate Texas' abortion

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ban because the EMTALA doesn't
apply in those situations,

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according to this judge.

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So the Justice Department filed
a suit to block Idaho's law.

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And the theory of
that case is that it

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violates the Emergency
Medical Treatment

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and Labor Act, EMTALA.

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And basically, the
government's position

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is that the way that EMTALA
defines emergency medical care

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is broader than what the
state of Idaho is allowing.

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So in Idaho, the federal
judge ruled that because

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of the Supremacy Clause in
the Constitution, federal law

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trumps state law and
the state abortion ban,

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because it would be
impossible for a physician

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to comply with both
the state abortion

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law and the federal law that
protects emergency health

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care in these situations.

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ELIZABETH SEPPER: So
the Constitution says

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that federal law is supreme.

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It's in a Supremacy Clause.

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So where we have a direct
conflict between state

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law and federal law, the federal
law does preempt the state law.

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So part of this litigation
is figuring out whether

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and to what extent there's a
direct conflict between Idaho

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law, for example,
Texas law, for example,

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with the federal law
on the other hand.

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SEEMA MOHAPATRA: What
we are going to see

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is we're going to
see this kind of play

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out over the next year or so.

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And it's going to be
interesting to see

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the different legal theories
to see if at one point

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there is going to
be a direct issue

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that the Supreme
Court has to rule on.

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In both of these
cases, we're not

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talking about people
that are coming

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in for elective abortions.

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We're talking about cases where
people have wanted pregnancies

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and are having these very
serious, life-threatening

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complications where
their lives are at risk.

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And unless they
get this procedure,

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they're not going to
be able to survive.

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And so it is a very
serious situation.

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Even though it's a
narrow set of cases,

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a pregnant person in
Idaho can sleep better

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compared to a pregnant
person in Texas

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because of this interpretation
of these federal laws.

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