The Biden administration has told hospitals that they “must” provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk, saying federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban it without exceptions following the Supreme Court’s decision to end a constitutional right to abortion.

The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday cited requirements on medical facilities in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The law requires medical facilities to determine whether a person may be in labor or faces an emergency health situation ‘or one that could develop into an emergency’ and provide treatment.