Colorado Democrats criticized the Trump administration’s decision to rescind federal guidelines for hospitals that required them to provide emergency abortions for women.

The Biden administration issued the guidelines in 2022 following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs. Wade, arguing all states, including those with almost total abortion bans, are required to provide emergency abortions under the Emergency Treatment and Active Labor Act or EMTALA.

That law, passed in 1986 under President Ronald Reagan, requires emergency rooms that receive Medicare funding to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status. 

During the 2025 legislative session, Democrats passed a bill that is essentially a state-level version of EMTALA in anticipation of actions by the Trump administration on the abortion front. The bill was sponsored by Sens. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Reps. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and Yara Zokaie, D-Fort Collins. Colorado’s governor signed the law last month.

During a February committee hearing on the bill, Weissman said EMTALA is essential to save the lives of women who could die without receiving an abortion.

“Unfortunately, we were expecting this,” said Senate Assistant Majority Leader Lisa Cutter of Littleton and Rep. Lorena Garcia of Adams County, co-chairs of the Democratic Women’s Caucus. “The MAGA regime created more chaos and confusion for pregnant people experiencing a medical crisis by removing specific guidance in federal EMTALA protections that have been in place for decades. This is just one more calculated move in their plans to take away our reproductive freedoms, access to healthcare, and continue the attacks on pregnant people and low income families.”

Colorado Organization for Latina Reproductive Rights (COLOR), a nonprofit organization focused on reproductive health care for the Latino community, said the rescindment is just the latest in a series of attacks on reproductive health. The organization advocated for SB 130 and other abortion-related bills this legislative session. 

“We are deeply proud of what we have accomplished to ensure people can receive life-saving medical care in our state, a statement on COLOR’s website reads. “We will continue to advocate for access to emergency care. The lives of pregnant people are important, worth protecting, and worth fighting for.”