Media Tip Sheet: ​​Trump Administration Reverses Hospital Abortion Mandate


June 4, 2025

The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will revoke a 2022 federal directive requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions when necessary to stabilize a patient’s condition.

The guidance, issued shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, was part of the Biden administration’s effort to safeguard abortion access in life-threatening situations.

The Biden administration had maintained that under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act where hospitals even in states with near-total abortion bans were required to offer emergency abortions when necessary. The Trump administration now says it would stop enforcing that policy.

The George Washington University has experts available who can offer insight. If you would like to schedule an interview, please contact GW Media Relations at gwmediaatgwu [dot] edu (gwmedia[at]gwu[dot]edu).

Julia Strasser, executive director of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health and an assistant research professor of health policy and management at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. She is an expert on reproductive health care.

Linda Cassar, clinical associate professor at the GW School of Nursing, has worked primarily with the maternal/child health patient population over her 30 years as a nurse, working in labor and delivery, mother/baby, high-risk antepartum, and outpatient community perinatal education.

Amita N. Vyas, associate professor at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health and Director for the MPH Maternal and Child Health program and the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health.

Sara Rosenbaum, professor emerita of health law and policy and founding chair of the Department of Health Policy at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health, is a nationally known health law expert who has written about the Supreme Court’s ruling in EMTALA Cases.

Sonia Suter, professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and founding director of the Health Law Initiative. She is an expert on issues at the intersection of law, medicine, and bioethics, with a particular focus on reproductive rights.

-GW-