California sues Catholic hospital for denying emergency abortion to woman having a miscarriage
California is suing a Catholic hospital for denying an emergency abortion to a woman who was miscarrying and sending her instead to another hospital miles away with a bucket and towels in case anything happened in the car on the way, according to the complaint.
At a press conference Monday in Sacramento, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, Humboldt County. He was joined by the patient, Anna Nusslock, who was 15 weeks pregnant with twins when she went to the hospital on February 23 after her water broke.
According to the complaint, the doctor diagnosed Nusslock with previable preterm rupture of membranes (PPROM) and said her twins would not survive. The diagnosis also meant Nusslock was at risk for serious complications, including hemorrhaging, infection and death as the minutes passed without treatment.
However, instead of providing emergency abortion care to preserve her health, according to the complaint:
The doctor at Providence Hospital informed Anna that hospital policy prohibited them from providing Anna the needed treatment so long as one of Anna's twins had detectable heart tones, unless Anna's life was sufficiently at risk - that is, more at risk that it already was. Until such time, all they could do was watch and wait. Despite every doctor agreeing that Anna needed immediate intervention, Providence Hospital police would not allow it.
Complaint: California v. St. Joseph Health Northern California
As a result, Nusslock had to be driven to a small community hospital about 20 minutes away, with the hospital providing her with a bucket and towels "in case something happen[ed] in the car" on the way, the complaint said. By the time she reached the operating room at the second hospital, Nussbaum was "actively hemorrhaging," according to the lawsuit.
Bonta said California law requires all hospitals to provide emergency abortion care and that Providence St. Joseph violated the state's Emergency Services Law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the Unfair Competition Law. The attorney general said he also moved for an injunction to guarantee that Providence St. Joseph patients receive prompt emergency abortion care.
"So even in California, a champion for reproductive freedom, we are not immune from practices like the one we're seeing today," said Bonta. "We will not stand by as it occurs. We will take action as we're doing today and move to end it immediately."
According to the lawsuit, the Providence doctor recommended to Nusslock that she be helicoptered to the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF) to obtain the emergency abortion, but Nusslock knew that her insurance would not cover the $40,000 cost of the flight. As stated in the complaint:
When Anna asked whether it would be advisable to drive to UCSF instead, her doctor told her: "If you try to drive, you will hemorrhage and die before you get to a place that can help you."
"Providence Hospital's policy resulted in the denial of emergency medical care that my doctors recommended," said Nusslock. "It inflicted on me, needless protracted pain, bleeding and trauma. It subjected me to further risk of medical complications by delaying the care I needed."
Providence St. Joseph told CBS News Sacramento it was reviewing the lawsuit.
"We are heartbroken over Dr. Nusslock's experience earlier this year," Providence said in an emailed statement. "Because the case is in active litigation and due to patient confidentiality, we cannot comment on the matter."
