Current Events > Hospital in Missouri violated federal law for not offering abortions

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Two hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor put her life in jeopardy and violated federal law, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government has found.

But federal law, which requires doctors to treat patients in emergency situations, trumps those state laws, the nations top health official said in a statement.
Fortunately, this patient survived. But she never should have gone through the terrifying ordeal she experienced in the first place, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said. We want her, and every patient out there like her, to know that we will do everything we can to protect their lives and health, and to investigate and enforce the law to the fullest extent of our legal authority, in accordance with orders from the courts.

The federal agencys investigation centers on two hospitals Freeman Health System in Joplin, Missouri, and University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas that in August refused to provide an abortion to a Missouri woman whose water broke early at 17 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors at both hospitals told Mylissa Farmer that her fetus would not survive, that her amniotic fluid had emptied and that she was at risk for serious infection or losing her uterus, but they would not terminate the pregnancy because a fetal heartbeat was still detectable.

Nationwide, doctors have reported uncertainty around how to provide care to pregnant women, especially in the nearly 20 states where new laws have banned or limited the care. Doctors face criminal and civil penalties in some states for aborting a pregnancy.
But in a letter sent Monday to hospital and doctors associations that highlights the inquiries, Becerra said he hopes the investigations clarify that the organizations must follow the federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA.
While many state laws have recently changed, Becerra wrote, its important to know that the federal EMTALA requirements have not changed, and continue to require that health care professionals offer treatment, including abortion care, that the provider reasonably determines is necessary to stabilize the patients emergency medical condition.

What happened to the hospital and the lady?

Doctors at both hospitals told Mylissa Farmer that her fetus would not survive, that her amniotic fluid had emptied and that she was at risk for serious infection or losing her uterus, but they would not terminate the pregnancy because a fetal heartbeat was still detectable.

Ultimately, Farmer had to travel to an abortion clinic in Illinois.

Hospitals should stay in their lane

The fed just needs to strike down these anti abortion laws causing confusion in these states

They're only allowed to uphold/maintain the law from the national end and can't infringe on a state's right to their own because it can work in reverse in blue states that protect patients seeking abortions.

So then they shouldn't go after hospitals that are trying to abide by the state laws