There has been a spike in complaints that pregnant women in medical distress have been turned away from emergency rooms in Texas and elsewhere as hospitals grapple with whether standard care could violate strict laws against abortion. Pregnancy terminations have long been part of medical treatment for patients with serious complications, as way to to prevent sepsis, organ failure and other major problems. But in Texas and other states with strict abortion bans, doctors and hospitals have said it is not clear whether those terminations could run afoul of abortion bans that carry the possibility of prison time.

In the suit filed [in September] in Lubbock, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the federal government of attempting to "undermine" the state's law enforcement capabilities. It appears to be the first legal challenge from a state with an abortion ban that took effect after the U.S.

Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the nationwide right to abortion. "With this rule, the Biden Administration makes a backdoor attempt at weakening Texas's laws by undermining state law enforcement investigations that implicate medical procedures," Paxton said in a news release.

The rule essentially prohibits state or local officials from gathering medical records related to reproductive health care for a civil, criminal or administrative investigation from providers or health insurers in a state where abortion remains legal. It is intended to protect wom.