Wendy Simmons – EMTALA Complaint

This complaint was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Wendy Simmons, an Arizona woman who was denied abortion care at Northwest Medical Center in Tucson after experiencing preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (also known as preterm premature rupture of membranes, or “PPROM”) in October 2023, when she was 18 weeks pregnant. The complaint argues that by failing to provide Ms. Simmons with stabilizing care, Northwest Medical Center violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)—a federal law requiring hospital emergency rooms to provide “stabilizing treatment,” including emergency abortion care.