Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom ( apnews.com )

One woman miscarried in the restroom lobby of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn’t offer an ultrasound. The baby later died.

The cases raise alarms about the state of emergency pregnancy care in the U.S., especially in states that enacted strict abortion laws and sparked confusion around the treatment doctors can provide.

“It is shocking, it’s absolutely shocking,” said Amelia Huntsberger, an OB/GYN in Oregon. “It is appalling that someone would show up to an emergency room and not receive care -- this is inconceivable.”

It’s happened despite federal mandates that the women be treated.

in4aPenny ,
KillingTimeItself ,

you didn't hear it from me, but, so far, no has said that you can't miscarriage in public.

So, for the two people that would ever want to do that. Have at it.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

See? Now that abortion is illegal, if you and your fetus die, that's the way God intended it to be!

Every life is precious and abortion is murder... unless God thinks otherwise, then abort that little fucker, God, and kill the lady for good measure!

Phegan ,

This is America

rambling_lunatic ,

I don't quite understand. How did banning abortions lead to doctors being scared of helping people give birth?

Sam_Bass ,

They are threatened to be held responsible and imprisoned for helping a woman abort

rambling_lunatic ,

In my country medical professionals that help induce an abortion can be imprisoned for 4-10 years. Nonetheless, the thing described in the article doesn't happen. It must be something else.

orcrist ,

And in your country I presume the law applies to the entire country, doesn't vary by state, and wasn't put into effect in very recent history.

After 10 or 20 years there will be enough legal precedent in each state that doctors and hospitals can formulate policies which will probably keep them safe from prosecution. Right now, they don't have that capability, because everything is so new. And the only way to find out whether their actions are legal is to try them and see if they get charged and see what the courts say.

It's important to keep in mind that the states with strict laws against abortion are run by Republicans who really don't care about the doctors or the women. It's not like the laws are perfectly crafted to guarantee that patients receive the best possible medical care.

Socsa ,

No, it's not fucking shocking. It's an extremely predictable consequence of religious zealotry legislating their sick version of morality.

radiant_bloom ,

So abortion being legal actually saves lives ? You don’t say !

I swear, the fact they call themselves “pro-life” while sowing death and misery is completely unacceptable. It’s like them calling themselves “conservative” while destroying nature and society…

IamSparticles ,

“It is appalling that someone would show up to an emergency room and not receive care – this is inconceivable.”

You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means. This was all predicted as potential outcomes from overturning Roe. It's not even the first time, because this is what things were like before Roe. You know that quote? "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I used to think it was kind of cliché, but it seems to be more and more relevant all the time these days.

mosiacmango ,

This is an OB/GYN in a different state reviewing the cases at a medical level. You can be 100% sure she knows why they are occurring :

For Huntsberger, the OB-GYN, EMTALA was one of the few ways she felt protected to treat pregnant patients in Idaho, despite the state’s abortion ban. She left Idaho last year to practice in Oregon because of the ban.

What she is saying that it is absolutely shocking that these woman, in deep medical need, were turned away because of cruel and pandering state laws.

Shes making it clear that medically, these hospitals broke their hippocratic oath in order to comply with these heartless state laws while also violating federal law that requires them to provide medical care to those in need.

BertramDitore ,
@BertramDitore@lemmy.world avatar

Why the hell are security guards and front desk staff making medical decisions? I’m sure their jobs aren’t easy, but this isn’t their job.

Shou ,

Men

wahming ,

You have a funny way of spelling Republicans

girlfreddy OP ,
@girlfreddy@lemmy.ca avatar

Seeing as the average in the House and Senate is 72% male, "men" works.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-read/2023/01/03/118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women/

Shou ,

I get its sexist. But the majority who wanted this anti abortion bill were men. Not only that, controlling female reproduction is the norm for primates and men have shown the same desire time and time again. So yeah, men.

NOT_RICK ,
@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world avatar

It won’t bring their babies back, but these sure sound like some slam dunk lawsuits

henfredemars ,

Federal law requires emergency rooms to treat or stabilize patients who are in active labor and provide a medical transfer to another hospital if they don’t have the staff or resources to treat them. Medical facilities must comply with the law if they accept Medicare funding. The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday that could weaken those protections.

Let's see how long that lasts.

Plus, the effect and point of many of these laws is to create massive liability to make pregnant patients untouchables. Running an OBGYN dept is becoming an unacceptable legal risk.

All is working as intended to harm women.

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