Tester Works to Defend Montanans’ Access to Emergency Health Care

Senator continues work to protect Montanans’ freedom and privacy, signs onto amicus brief

Continuing his longstanding efforts to protect Montanans’ freedom and privacy to make their own personal health care decisions, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today signed onto an amicus brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The brief affirms rights granted by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act(EMTALA), which requires Medicare-funded hospitals to provide treatment to stabilize patients experiencing medical emergencies.

“Judges, politicians, and unelected bureaucrats have no place getting between a woman and her doctor – particularly when her life is on the line,” said Tester. “The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act grants Montana women the legal right to life-saving emergency care, and it ought to be respected and protected by the courts. I’m proud to sign onto this effort affirming a woman’s right to emergency care, and I will always fight to support women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions.”

Tester has led the fight to ensure that Montana women have freedom to make health care decisions as well as access to safe and effective health care.

Tester is a strong supporter of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would guarantee the right to privacy for women making personal healthcare decisions by codifying Roe v. Wade. Tester is an original co-sponsor of the Right to Contraception Act, which would guarantee the right for individuals to obtain and use contraceptives, and for health providers to prescribe contraceptives and give information related to contraception. Earlier this year, Tester cosponsored and voted in favor of the Right to IVF Act when it was previously brought to the floor for a vote.

On the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Tester spoke in Bozeman alongside local health care providers and advocates to reiterate his longstanding efforts to defend Montanans’ freedoms and privacy to make their own personal health care decisions.