Catholic hospital agrees to provide abortions after California sues over miscarriage care

[October 31, 2024]  By KRISTEN HWANG/CalMatters

Providence St. Joseph Hospital and the California Attorney General’s office have reached a temporary agreement in a case alleging the Catholic-owned hospital in Humboldt County violated multiple state laws by denying emergency abortion care to pregnant patients.

Last month, Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, alleging it illegally refused to provide emergency abortion care to a woman who was 15 weeks pregnant and hemorrhaging.

According to the stipulated agreement released Tuesday, St. Joseph agrees to fully comply with the state’s Emergency Services Law, which prohibits hospitals from denying patients emergency care.

The hospital will allow physicians to terminate a patient’s pregnancy if not doing so would seriously risk the patient’s health. The hospital also agreed not to transfer a patient to another facility without first providing emergency stabilizing care, including abortion if that is what a patient needs.

St. Joseph and its parent organization Providence admit no liability under the stipulation. The stipulation is subject to court approval and will remain in place while the litigation continues.

“While Providence St. Joseph should have been complying with state law up to now, thereby avoiding the harm and trauma to Californians they caused, I am pleased that the hospital has agreed to fully comply with the law going forward, ensuring access to life-saving health services including emergency abortion care,” Bonta said in a statement.

Representatives for Providence St. Joseph did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the lawsuit against the hospital, local chiropractor Anna Nusslock alleges that she arrived at the hospital in February bleeding and in severe pain after her water broke prematurely. Nusslock was pregnant with twins. Court documents state that a doctor at Providence St. Joseph Hospital told her internal policy prevented them from treating her because one of her twins had a “detectable heartbeat.”

Nusslock was given a bucket and towels “in case something happens in the car,” court documents filed by the state allege, and told to drive to the next closest hospital 12 miles away.

That hospital, Mad River Community Hospital, will close its labor and delivery unit on Oct. 31, leaving Providence St. Joseph Hospital the only operating maternity ward in Humboldt County.

The lawsuit claims that Nusslock’s condition put her at risk of permanent harm or death from infection and hemorrhage.

Though California has enacted some of the nation’s strongest abortion protections since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe vs. Wade, the state has struggled to navigate religious and personal belief exemptions governing hospitals and anti-abortion pregnancy centers.

This is the first lawsuit filed against a hospital under the Emergency Services Law, according to the attorney general’s office.
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This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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