ACCOUNTABILITY

Feds Say Hospitals That Refused Life-Saving Abortion Broke the Law

Federal law requires doctors to treat patients in emergencies and supersedes state abortion bans.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, pregnant women across the country have reported hospitals being unwilling to terminate their pregnancies, even when their lives were in danger. Now, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services is seeking to hold two hospitals accountable, according to the Associated Press. In August, doctors told Mylissa Farmer of Missouri that her fetus would not survive after her water broke 17 weeks into her pregnancy, yet Freeman Health System in Missouri and University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas refused to give her an abortion because they still detected a fetal heartbeat, forcing her to travel to Illinois for the procedure. The hospitals are now being accused of breaking federal law, which requires doctors to treat patients in emergencies and supersedes state abortion bans.