evidence: Understanding and Navigating Medical Emergency Exceptions in Abortion Bans and Restrictions The Supreme Court's June 2022 decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion has had devastating consequences, allowing abortion bans and restrictions to go into effect around the country. State abortion bans and restrictions may have stated or claimed exceptions—for example, that an abortion can be performed in the case of a "medical emergency" or to prevent "death or irreversible damage to a major bodily function." The specific language used in many of these laws to describe exceptions is often confusing and unclear. [...] - Clinicians must be able to act before a patient acutely decompensates when a medical complication occurs. ACOG asserts that doctors and other health care professionals must be able to intervene when they feel it is medically necessary and provide abortion care before a patient is critically ill. Hospitals and other medical institutions should not require meeting particular criteria (e.g., admission to the ICU or unstable vital signs) before allowing clinicians to proceed with abortion care.