SCR 7: Affirming and supporting the REQUIREMENT that hospitals provide life-saving emergency care to pregnant people, including reproductive and abortion services, when such care is medically necessary to stabilize a patient under the Emergency medical treatment and Active labor act.

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Affirming and supporting the REQUIREMENT that hospitals provide life-saving emergency care to pregnant people, including reproductive and abortion services, when such care is medically necessary to stabilize a patient under the Emergency medical treatment and Active labor act.

     WHEREAS, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), enacted in 1986, requires hospitals that receive Medicare funding to provide a medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment to any person with an emergency medical condition, regardless of their ability to pay; and

     WHEREAS, EMTALA has long been interpreted to require that when a person presents a life- or health-threatening condition to a hospital, such as hemorrhage, ectopic pregnancy, or preeclampsia, the hospital must provide abortion care if it is the necessary stabilizing treatment; and

     WHEREAS, shifts in federal policy and guidance in recent years, including the 2022 federal affirmation of EMTALA's requirement to provide emergency abortion care and the 2025 rescission of this guidance by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, have created national confusion about EMTALA's application, even though the statute itself remains fully in effect; and

     WHEREAS, the lack of consistent federal guidance has caused hospitals in some states to delay or deny stabilizing care for pregnant people, particularly in states with abortion bans, despite EMTALA's requirements; and

     WHEREAS, nationally, some religiously affiliated hospitals have asserted conscience-based objections to providing emergency abortion care, although EMTALA does not allow for religious exemptions; and

     WHEREAS, failure to provide timely and medically necessary emergency care, including emergency abortion care, can lead to preventable medical deterioration, permanent injury, or death; and

     WHEREAS, several states, including Colorado, Illinois, and New York, have explicitly defined emergency abortion care as a stabilizing treatment required under EMTALA; and

     WHEREAS, Hawaii hospitals and emergency physicians have a long-standing record of providing stabilizing treatment, including emergency abortion care when medically necessary, and continue to support and uphold these standards of care; and

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's hospital system has affirmed its commitment to patient safety, reproductive healthcare access, and the delivery of high-quality emergency medical care in accordance with federal law and accepted medical standards; and

     WHEREAS, formally recognizing and supporting this long-standing practice strengthens public confidence, clarifies Hawaii's policy direction, and reinforces the stability of emergency care for pregnant people in the State; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body affirms and supports the requirement that hospitals provide life-saving emergency care to pregnant people, including reproductive and abortion services, when such care is medically necessary to stabilize a patient under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body urges all hospitals in the State, regardless of religious affiliation, to continue upholding these established standards of care and ensuring that no pregnant patient experiencing a medical emergency is denied or delayed stabilizing care; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Health, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Primary Care Association, President of the Hawaii Association of Health Plans, and President of the Hawaii Medical Association.

Report Title: 

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act; Hospitals; Reproductive Services; Abortion Services