Doctors say they fear that following their medical judgment could cost them their license or land them in jail.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and MEGAN MESSERLY
04/23/2024

Every state abortion ban has an exception to save a mother’s life. But what qualifies as a life-threatening medical emergency in Texas may not be enough for a doctor in Idaho, and even hospitals within the same state can look at an identical case and reach different conclusions.

The legal and medical murkiness has physicians around the country begging state officials to clarify when they can terminate pregnancies without risking legal peril. And as they await guidance from states, stories of pregnant patients turned away from hospitals in medical emergencies or forced to wait until their vitals crash have become emblematic of the confusion unleashed when the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision ended the federal right to an abortion in 2022.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/23/doctors-abortion-medical-exemptions-00153317