Center Files Complaints Against Texas Hospitals for Denying Women Emergency Care for Life-Threatening Ectopic Pregnancies
Filings mark the latest Center work representing dozens of patients denied or delayed abortion care despite facing risks to their health, lives and future fertility.
Key Takeaways:
>> Two Texas hospitals turned away pregnant patients needing emergency care to treat life-threatening ectopic pregnancies.
>> The Center filed complaints against the hospitals, arguing that by refusing to provide care, they violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals to provide “stabilizing” treatment.
In a continuation of its work on behalf of patients denied or delayed abortion care despite facing dangerous pregnancy complications, the Center for Reproductive Rights recently filed complaints against two Texas hospitals that turned away women seeking treatment for life-threatening ectopic pregnancies.
In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg implants in a location other than the inside of the uterus, leaving the pregnancy with no chance of survival. If not treated promptly, an ectopic pregnancy can rupture and become deadly for the pregnant patient.
The Center’s clients, Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz and Kyleigh Thurman, nearly died and suffered permanent damage to their reproductive organs after they were refused emergency treatment for their ectopic pregnancies.
Filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the complaints against Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital and Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital argue that the two hospitals violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)—a long-time federal law that requires hospital emergency rooms to provide “stabilizing treatment,” including emergency abortion care. EMTALA applies to all states and the filings seek to ensure that Texas hospitals provide emergency abortion care for pregnant people in such dire situations.
Texas’s Abortion Law Makes Exceptions for Ectopic Pregnancies—But Doctors Are Still Afraid to Provide Care
Although abortion is illegal in Texas, providing an abortion in cases of ectopic pregnancies is explicitly allowed under state law. But even when patients’ lives and health are endangered, doctors and hospitals have been fearful of providing abortion care because of the risk of serious criminal and civil penalties. Under the state’s abortion bans, doctors face up to 99 years in prison, loss of medical license, and at least $100,000 in fines for providing care.
Both Thurman and Norris-De La Cruz had tubal ectopic pregnancies—in which a pregnancy implants in a fallopian tube instead of in the uterus. The condition can cause the fallopian tube to rupture, which can cause major internal bleeding and even death. A patient who is near rupture needs immediate treatment to preserve reproductive organs and protect the life and health of the patient.
Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz, of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, sought treatment at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. Against the recommendation of an emergency room physician, and with the explicit acknowledgement that Norris-De La Cruz’s fallopian tube may rupture, the hospital discharged her without treating her condition or transferring her to another facility.
Hours later, Norris-De La Cruz sought a second opinion from another OB-GYN who easily diagnosed the ectopic pregnancy and rushed her into emergency surgery to save her life. She lost one of her fallopian tubes, leaving her future fertility compromised.
“Despite the fact that my life was clearly in danger, the hospital told me that they could not help me. I ended up losing half of my fertility and if I was made to wait any longer, it’s very likely I would have died,” said Norris-De La Cruz. “The doctors knew I needed an abortion, but these bans are making it nearly impossible to get basic emergency healthcare. So, I’m filing this complaint because women like me deserve justice and accountability from those that hurt us. Texas state officials can’t keep ignoring us. We can’t let them.”
Read Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz’s complete story here.
Ectopic Pregnancy: The Leading Cause of Maternal Deaths
Nationwide, ectopic pregnancy—in which a fertilized egg implants in a location other than inside the uterus—is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the first trimester, accounting for up to 10% of all pregnancy-related deaths.
Kyleigh Thurman, of Burnet, Texas, sought treatment at Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital. It discharged her without treating her ectopic pregnancy or transferring her to another facility. Days later, she returned to the hospital because she continued to experience vaginal bleeding. Even though her OB-GYN concluded she had an ectopic pregnancy, and an attending hospital physician concluded her symptoms were those of an ectopic pregnancy, the hospital again refused to treat her. Not until her OB-GYN pleaded to hospital staff to give her care did the hospital finally treat her to save her life.
But the care came too late, and Thurman’s ectopic pregnancy ruptured. She, too, lost one of her fallopian tubes, leaving her future fertility compromised.
“I never imagined I would find myself in the crosshairs of my home state’s extreme abortion bans. For weeks, I was in and out of emergency rooms trying to get the abortion that I needed to save my future fertility and life. This should have been an open and shut case. Yet, I was left completely in the dark without any information or options for the care I deserved,” said Thurman. “Pregnancy is not straightforward, and I now have to live with the consequences of these extreme laws every day. None of this should have happened to me, and I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Read Kyleigh Thurman’s complete story here.
“Dozens of pregnant women, some bleeding or in labor, are turned away from ERs despite federal law,” Associated Press, 08.12.24
This AP article reports that since 2022, more than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated.
Ectopic Pregnancy Is the Leading Cause of Maternal Deaths in the First Trimester
Kelsie and Kyleigh’s experiences are not isolated. Across the country, pregnant people in states with abortion bans are being forced to either wait until they are near death to receive care or are turned away altogether, even for care that is technically legal under state law.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, there have been numerous reports of delays and denials of pregnancy-related care in emergency rooms in states with abortion bans, even for care that is legal under state law.
The Center has filed numerous lawsuits and complaints against Texas and other states on behalf of women who were denied abortion care despite facing dangerous pregnancy complications, and physicians who are unable to provide the medically necessary care their patients need.
When facing cases of ectopic pregnancies, due to fear of prosecution, doctors are delaying care, forcing patients to wait days or weeks and to undergo additional testing to confirm and reconfirm the diagnosis to ensure the treatment would not be considered a prohibited abortion.
Such delays in care can threaten patients’ lives, since ectopic pregnancy is one of many pregnancy complications that is life-threatening and requires immediate treatment.
Nationwide, ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the first trimester, accounting for up to 10% of all pregnancy-related deaths. In 2022, most pregnancy-related deaths in Texas were due to hemorrhage, and the most common cause of hemorrhage was ruptured ectopic pregnancy.
“It’s impossible to have the best interest of your patient in mind when you’re staring down a life sentence,” said Beth Brinkmann, Senior Director of U.S. Litigation at the Center. “Texas officials have put doctors in an impossible situation. It is clear that these exceptions are a farce, and that these laws are putting countless lives in jeopardy.”
Medical Exceptions to State Abortion Bans
The Center is representing dozens of women in Texas and other states banning abortion who have been denied abortion care despite risks to their health, lives and fertility.
Read more about the filings.
- Administrative Complaint Against Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, 08.06.24
- Administrative Complaint Against Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital, 08.06.24
- Complainants’ Stories
The Center for Reproductive Rights is dedicated to helping all people access abortion. If you have been denied care while facing pregnancy complications and want to speak to a lawyer about your options, please reach out to [email protected].