Hospital Faces Legal Action in California for Refusing Emergency Abortion

Hospital Faces Legal Action in California for Refusing Emergency Abortion
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Attorney General of California Rob Bonta declared that the state is suing a Eureka hospital for allegedly turning away women who were in danger of dying during an emergency abortion.

The case, which was submitted on Monday to the Humboldt County Superior Court, claims that Providence St. Joseph Hospital broke many California statutes when it refused to give patients in need of an urgent abortion care.

The main hospital in Eureka, the largest coastal city in northern California between San Francisco and Oregon, is Providence St. Joseph’s, a Catholic hospital.

The patient named in the complaint is Anna Nusslock, who experienced a water break in February 2024 at the age of fifteen weeks pregnant with twins.

In her case, Nusslock, a 35-year-old medical professional, stated that Providence St. Joseph’s doctors informed her that abortion was her only choice, but they were unable to perform the procedure due to hospital policy.

“Without abortion care, I risked infection or hemorrhage, both of which are so dangerous to my health and my life, and increased with every minute that passed,” Nusslock stated.

Nusslock said that despite the fact that her life was in danger and the pregnancy was no longer viable, the doctors had informed her that they could not provide an emergency abortion if her twins continued to show heart tones.

“I was told I could not receive emergency abortion care while at Providence because of hospital policy,” Nusslock sttedd.

Instead, Nusslock claims that personnel at Providence gave her a bucket and towels “in case something happens in the car” and instructed her to travel twelve miles to a tiny community hospital where medical professionals could carry out the procedure.

When the pregnancy was terminated in that smaller hospital, according to Nusslock, she was actively bleeding when she was put on an operating table.

Attorney General Rob Bonta of the state claims in the lawsuit that Providence has been breaking many California laws by turning away women in need of emergency abortion care.

California is asking a judge to issue an injunction compelling the hospital to provide timely emergency treatment, which includes abortions.

“Pregnant patients have the same rights to health care, including emergency care, that any other patient has,” Bonta stated.

Bonta asserts Even in cases where doctors have decided that an instant abortion is necessary to preserve the mother’s life and when a pregnancy is not viable, Providence is preventing doctors from administering life-saving or life-stabilizing emergency abortion treatment.

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According to the lawsuit, Providence will only approve the procedure if the mother’s life is in imminent risk of ending, by which point it may be too late to intervene. Federal law on the matter is less clear, notwithstanding Bonta’s argument that Providence must give the care under California law.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act mandates that all hospitals operating emergency departments and Medicare-eligible hospitals provide life-stabilizing treatment to all patients. However, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule in a recent case that the act covers abortion services.

By: abcnews.go.com

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