2023-05-02 19:43:04
They refused an emergency abortion to a woman experiencing serious complications. Two US hospitals that broke the law have been called to order, the Department of Health said Monday. The ministry hopes by this action to “clarify” the situation, in a context of political and legal battle around the question of abortion in the United States.
Women’s emergency care obligations must be respected, despite restrictive abortion laws passed by some states, Health Minister Xavier Becerra said in a letter to hospital representative organizations. In recent months, press articles relating the story of women who have not been able to benefit from an abortion, even though their fetus was doomed, have multiplied.
Obligation to treat a person in a medical emergency
Some doctors fear being prosecuted for an abortion considered illegal in their state. The two hospitals targeted by the action announced Monday are in Missouri and Kansas, two neighboring states, located in the center of the United States. An 18-week-pregnant patient visited these two establishments after a premature rupture of the bag of waters, describes the letter from the minister. She was then told that her pregnancy was no longer viable.
But doctors “told her they couldn’t offer her care that would prevent infection, bleeding, and potentially death” because of “hospital rules prohibiting treatment that could amount to an abortion.” detailed Xavier Becerra. This is a “violation” of the law named EMTALA, he stressed. This law concerns the hospitals supporting the federal health insurance plan Medicare – that is to say the majority of them – and obliges them to treat a person presenting a medical emergency.
“Fortunately, the patient survived”
The two hospitals have not been sanctioned, but will have to correct their actions, which will be verified by inspectors. The patient, Mylissa Farmer, was finally treated in Illinois after driving for hours, according to the National Women’s Law Center, which originated the alert on her case. She was then “in full labor, in great pain,” the organization said in a statement. “Fortunately, the patient survived,” the minister said in a statement. “But she should never have gone through this terrifying ordeal. »
“Today, we are sending a reminder to hospitals participating in Medicare: you are obliged (…) to offer care to stabilize the condition of patients in medical emergency”, he hammered. Joe Biden’s government has promised to uphold abortion rights, which has come under renewed assault from conservatives since a US Supreme Court ruling in June 2022. each American state the freedom to legislate on the matter. Fifteen states have since made abortion illegal or have severely restricted its access.
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