The Trump administration has intervened in a dispute over a Texas newborn, Gabriel, who has a severe congenital heart defect, warning hospitals that they must not deny life-saving treatment because of a disability. The case matters because it raises questions about whether hospitals are meeting federal obligations to provide emergency care and whether disability is influencing treatment decisions.

The Department of Health and Human Services said it had notified Texas hospitals of their legal duties under federal anti-discrimination and emergency-care laws. Gabriel’s case follows a legal battle involving surrogate mother McKenna West, who declined the intended parents’ request to terminate the pregnancy after the heart condition was diagnosed and travelled to Texas to give birth.