Medical professional testifies bill prioritizing abortion in ER’s would violate federal law

By Valerie Schmalz

A bill that would prioritize abortion as an emergency room treatment for women experiencing pregnancy complications unsurprisingly passed unanimously out of the California Assembly Health Committee today in Sacramento.

The California Catholic Conference opposes Assembly Bill 40 and issued an Action Alert over the weekend against the legislation, which is sponsored by Assembly Member Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, who is also chair of the committee.

A key witness against the bill said that AB 40 would violate the federal law governing care at emergency rooms, the federal Emergency Treatment and Labor Act.

California is already a haven for abortion, but this bill would make abortion a priority instead of focusing treatment on both pregnant patient and fetal patient, said the California Catholic Conference in its alert. In 2022, California passed a state constitutional amendment legalizing abortion until birth and the state also advertises itself as a place where those traveling from out of state can obtain abortions.

The proposed legislation goes even farther, by requiring abortion to be considered priority emergency room treatment, rather than standard medical practice of treating both the mother and her unborn child as patients.

“Redefining emergency health services to include abortion will force emergency rooms to prioritize abortion over caring for both mom and baby. Doctors and emergency departments must be allowed to use their best clinical judgment to help their patients,” the California Catholic Conference said in its action alert. “We believe in nonviolent solutions to the challenges women face during pregnancy. Women deserve excellent, life-affirming medical care, especially when facing medical challenges.”

Walk for Life co-chair and experienced medical professional Dolores Meehan, a board-certified nurse practitioner who trained at UC San Francisco, traveled from San Francisco to Sacramento to testify against the bill.

“When a pregnant woman presents to the ER, standard of care dictates that two patients are considered – the pregnant patient and the fetal patient. The AB 40 language does not include consideration for the fetal patient which is in direct opposition to EMTALA,” said Meehan. The EMTALA is the acronym for the U.S.  Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. 

“When a pregnant mother is in a medical crisis, almost always she is carrying a wanted child and is not seeking an abortion, she is seeking lifesaving medical care for both she and her unborn child,” Meehan said, sitting at a table next to bill sponsor Bonta and two other abortion advocates, in the Health Assembly Committee hearing March 25.

“The standard of care, irrespective of policies on abortion, is to save the life of the mother and child – healthy mom, healthy baby. If in the course of saving the life of the mother, the unborn child dies, fetal demise is not considered the termination of the pregnancy,” said Meehan. She cited as part of her experience 11 years as an inpatient RN and four years volunteering in the General Hospital ER as well 15 medical missions to rural Africa which she described as including almost all medical emergencies “known to man.”

“Direct abortion, which has as its primary aim the demise of the fetal patient, is not emergency healthcare,” Meehan said.

“Abortion is health care,” AB 40 bill sponsor Bonta said in her testimony to the committee. Bonta asserted the bill was a ‘simple’ bill to make sure a woman in need of care was not turned away. However, Alena Chavez, the program manager with TEACH, Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Healthcare, called the bill a way to make sure ER’s can also offer abortion and the abortion pill. In the text of the California code that would be changed by the bill, emergency health care includes stabilizing mental health care.

In her testimony, Meehan noted that the bill would radically change the approach required of emergency room doctors and nurses. “Finally, our ERs are overcrowded as it is. This bill sets a precedent for specific non-emergency services that emergency departments must provide including medication abortion RU486, thereby adding a whole new layer of patients to our over- burdened ERs and hobbles the ability of our ERs to carry out their unique mission of treatment and stabilization of emergency medical conditions. It is not the role of the ER to provide elective procedures such as medication abortion.”

The legislation will now be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

To oppose AB 40, go to https://cacatholic.org/alerts/ to send a letter to your legislator.