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Texas Hospital Discharged Woman with Untreated Ectopic Pregnancy. Then She Started Bleeding Out: ‘Oh My God, I'm Dying'
Texas Hospital Discharged Woman with Untreated Ectopic Pregnancy. Then She Started Bleeding Out: ‘Oh My God, I'm Dying'

Yahoo

time4 days ago

  • Health
  • Yahoo

Texas Hospital Discharged Woman with Untreated Ectopic Pregnancy. Then She Started Bleeding Out: ‘Oh My God, I'm Dying'

Kyleigh Thurman filed a complaint against Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital after suffering an ectopic pregnancy. The medical emergency led to a ruptured fallopian tube that caused heavy bleeding A federal investigation has now found that the hospital broke the law by failing to give Thurman proper medical careA federal investigation has found that a Texas hospital broke the law by failing to give a woman proper medical attention following an emergency pregnancy complication. In August 2024, Kyleigh Thurman filed a complaint against Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital over a February 2023 visit when she suffered an ectopic pregnancy. According to the Mayo Clinic, ectopic pregnancy "occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus." This type of pregnancy cannot proceed normally because "the fertilized egg can't survive,' and it can lead to 'life-threatening bleeding, if left untreated." Court documents claim the hospital discharged Thurman, 36, without treatment, after allegedly giving her a pamphlet about miscarriage. She later returned due to continuous vaginal bleeding, but was 'denied care' again. 'It was not until her OB/GYN pleaded to hospital staff that she be given care that the hospital provided the necessary care,' the filing states. 'This care was too late, and Ms. Thurman's ectopic pregnancy ruptured due to the hospital's delay in treating her.' It was during this third visit to Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital that Thurman was reportedly told her case was now severe and her life was at risk due to the heavy bleeding. The untreated ectopic pregnancy resulted in one of her fallopian tubes rupturing. '[My OB/GYN] came in and she's like, you're either going to have to have a blood transfusion, or you're going to have to have surgery or you're going to bleed out,' Thurman told the Associated Press, through tears. 'That's when I just kind of was like, 'Oh my God, I'm, I'm dying.'' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Thurman underwent emergency surgery to remove one of her fallopian tubes, ultimately jeopardizing her fertility moving forward. A spokesperson for Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital tells PEOPLE that they cannot comment on Thurman's case, but noted that it 'is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services.' Shortly after Thurman's complaint was filed, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a federal investigation into her case. According to AP, investigators concluded in a report last month that Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital failed to give her a proper medical screening exam, including an evaluation with an OB-GYN. The hospital also reportedly violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients in medical emergencies. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! The report stated, per the outlet, that Thurman was 'at risk for deterioration of her health and wellbeing as a result of an untreated medical condition.' 'We see patients with miscarriages being denied care, bleeding out in parking lots. We see patients with nonviable pregnancies being told to continue those to term,' Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights that represented Thurman, told the outlet. 'This is not, maybe, what some people thought abortion bans would look like, but this is the reality.' Abortion is currently banned in Texas after six weeks, which is before most people know they're pregnant. The law does not allow exceptions for women who were impregnated as a result of rape or incest. Under the legislation, private citizens can also sue doctors or abortion clinic workers who perform or help to set up the procedure. The near-total ban has led to numerous claims of delayed pregnancy-related care — even for care that is legal under state law — due to fear of the extreme penalties for physicians who violate the abortion ban. In 2022, the Biden administration released guidance specifying that hospitals must provide an abortion if needed to treat a patient with an emergency condition. States including Texas challenged that guidance, saying it equated an abortion mandate. On June 3, the CMS announced that it would revoke the Biden-era guidance, explaining in a statement that it would 'work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability caused by the former administration's actions.' 'CMS will continue to enforce EMTALA, which protects all individuals who present to a hospital emergency department seeking examination or treatment, including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy,' the agency said. However, Thurman told AP that she had hoped the investigation would lead to a more clear message that ectopic pregnancies must be treated by hospitals despite state abortion bans. 'I didn't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Thurman said. 'I put a lot of the responsibility on the state of Texas and policy makers and the legislators that set this chain of events off.' Read the original article on People

Revoking EMTALA guidance on abortions will only further confuse doctors, experts say
Revoking EMTALA guidance on abortions will only further confuse doctors, experts say

Yahoo

time4 days ago

  • Health
  • Yahoo

Revoking EMTALA guidance on abortions will only further confuse doctors, experts say

In revoking federal guidance requiring emergency, life-saving abortions to protect the lives of pregnant women, the Trump Administration has added confusion to an already impossible situation for doctors, possibly putting women's lives at risk, experts told ABC News. "The rescission of this guidance is, contrary to its own statement, only further lending into the confusion that exists in emergency departments around the country, and it will put women's lives at risk," Alison Tanner, an attorney at the National Women's Law Center, told ABC News. "There have been countless stories of people across the country being denied emergency care, forced to wait in their cars in parking lots while they are actively bleeding, or being sent to different hospitals with a bucket and told to leave the state that they're in in order to get the care that they need," Tanner said. Earlier this week, the Trump administration revoked Biden-era federal guidance reminding hospitals that they are required to provide life-saving care, including abortions, in emergency situations under a federal law -- the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act -- regardless of state law. The guidance was issued after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, ending federal protections for abortion rights. At least 13 states have total abortion bans in effect, according to the Guttmacher Institute. As the administration rolled back the guidance this week, a government agency also found that a Texas hospital "failed to ensure ... [Kyleigh Thurman] received an appropriate medical screening," when she presented to the emergency department in early 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a deficiency letter shared with ABC News. MORE: Trump administration rescinds Biden-era guidance requiring hospitals to perform emergency abortions Thurman ultimately needed to have a fallopian tube removed after it ruptured due to an ectopic pregnancy. Thurman said she was turned away twice from a local emergency room, without treatment. Another facility also denied her care twice, before her OB-GYN traveled to the hospital and convinced staff to end the pregnancy. She was rushed to surgery days later after the tube ruptured. Ectopic pregnancies are a dangerous complication that occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus, in this case, in her fallopian tube. The treatment for an ectopic pregnancy is an abortion to prevent life-threatening complications. The hospital "did not appropriately screen [Thurman] for known risks associated with presenting signs, symptoms and test results including those which would constitute an [emergency medical condition], such as, but not limited to, ectopic pregnancy," the deficiency letter stated. "The hospital's failure to provide an appropriate medical screening examination, within the capability of the hospital's emergency department ... and consistent with the hospital's screening process, placed the patient at risk for deterioration of her health and wellbeing as a result of an untreated medical condition," the letter said. The determination was made after Thurman submitted an administrative complaint to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an office within the Department of Health and Human Services, in August 2024. MORE: Meet 18 women who shared heartbreaking pregnancy journeys in post-Roe world "I know how incredibly horrible and how hard it was for me, and I didn't want anyone else to ever have to go through what I had to go through," Thurman told ABC News. Thurman said she did not know how Texas' near-total abortion ban could impact her health or even what an ectopic pregnancy is before she learned she was pregnant. "I never imagined myself being caught in the crosshairs, but I don't think that many people ever do. It only highlights how this can happen to anyone," Thurman said. "I really didn't have a thought on it, and it really didn't become evident to me how negatively [abortion bans] would impact women until it was impacting my life," Thurman said. "I didn't know what it all meant." Thurman said she wants to try for a family despite her experience. "A lot of people are like 'just move' and I'm like, 'it's not that simple when you have deep roots in a place.' This is my home. I am not leaving. I'd rather fight back than leave," Thurman said. The new guidance will only create more confusion around what is already "muddy and very confusing," Thurman said. It is now more of an environment where "mistakes can happen," Thurman said. Despite the rescinding of the guidance, hospitals and physicians are still required to provide stabilizing care, experts said. "EMTALA is still the law of the land. Hospitals and doctors must still comply with EMTALA," Astrid Ackerman, a staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights who worked on filing EMTALA complaints, told ABC News. "What we're really concerned about is that this trend of that pregnant people cannot get the care that they need in this country, and more importantly, the care that hospitals and doctors want to provide," Ackerman said. Tanner said there is a real concern about whether the Trump administration will enforce EMTALA, especially after it dropped a federal lawsuit over Idaho's abortion ban, which does not allow abortions to save the life of the mother. An injunction in a separate EMTALA lawsuit by a hospital system in the state has blocked the ban. Doctors and hospitals are now stuck between "a rock and a hard place," trying to figure out what care they can provide, Tanner said. "Doctors and hospitals are being put in an untenable position. On the one hand, they are faced with state laws that would potentially impose severe criminal sanctions for providing necessary emergency abortion care," Tanner said. "And on the other hand, they have the federal law, EMTALA, which provides that both the federal government and individual patients can sue the hospital if they do not provide the necessary stabilizing care required under federal law," Tanner said. Revoking EMTALA guidance on abortions will only further confuse doctors, experts say originally appeared on

Revoking EMTALA guidance on abortions will only further confuse doctors, experts say

time4 days ago

  • Health

Revoking EMTALA guidance on abortions will only further confuse doctors, experts say

In revoking federal guidance requiring emergency, life-saving abortions to protect the lives of pregnant women, the Trump Administration has added confusion to an already impossible situation for doctors, possibly putting women's lives at risk, experts told ABC News. "The rescission of this guidance is, contrary to its own statement, only further lending into the confusion that exists in emergency departments around the country, and it will put women's lives at risk," Alison Tanner, an attorney at the National Women's Law Center, told ABC News. "There have been countless stories of people across the country being denied emergency care, forced to wait in their cars in parking lots while they are actively bleeding, or being sent to different hospitals with a bucket and told to leave the state that they're in in order to get the care that they need," Tanner said. Earlier this week, the Trump administration revoked Biden-era federal guidance reminding hospitals that they are required to provide life-saving care, including abortions, in emergency situations under a federal law -- the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act -- regardless of state law. The guidance was issued after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, ending federal protections for abortion rights. At least 13 states have total abortion bans in effect, according to the Guttmacher Institute. As the administration rolled back the guidance this week, a government agency also found that a Texas hospital "failed to ensure ... [Kyleigh Thurman] received an appropriate medical screening," when she presented to the emergency department in early 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a deficiency letter shared with ABC News. Thurman ultimately needed to have a fallopian tube removed after it ruptured due to an ectopic pregnancy. Thurman said she was turned away twice from a local emergency room, without treatment. Another facility also denied her care twice, before her OB-GYN traveled to the hospital and convinced staff to end the pregnancy. She was rushed to surgery days later after the tube ruptured. Ectopic pregnancies are a dangerous complication that occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus, in this case, in her fallopian tube. The treatment for an ectopic pregnancy is an abortion to prevent life-threatening complications. The hospital "did not appropriately screen [Thurman] for known risks associated with presenting signs, symptoms and test results including those which would constitute an [emergency medical condition], such as, but not limited to, ectopic pregnancy," the deficiency letter stated. "The hospital's failure to provide an appropriate medical screening examination, within the capability of the hospital's emergency department ... and consistent with the hospital's screening process, placed the patient at risk for deterioration of her health and wellbeing as a result of an untreated medical condition," the letter said. The determination was made after Thurman submitted an administrative complaint to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an office within the Department of Health and Human Services, in August 2024. "I know how incredibly horrible and how hard it was for me, and I didn't want anyone else to ever have to go through what I had to go through," Thurman told ABC News. Thurman said she did not know how Texas' near-total abortion ban could impact her health or even what an ectopic pregnancy is before she learned she was pregnant. "I never imagined myself being caught in the crosshairs, but I don't think that many people ever do. It only highlights how this can happen to anyone," Thurman said. "I really didn't have a thought on it, and it really didn't become evident to me how negatively [abortion bans] would impact women until it was impacting my life," Thurman said. "I didn't know what it all meant." Thurman said she wants to try for a family despite her experience. "A lot of people are like 'just move' and I'm like, 'it's not that simple when you have deep roots in a place.' This is my home. I am not leaving. I'd rather fight back than leave," Thurman said. The new guidance will only create more confusion around what is already "muddy and very confusing," Thurman said. It is now more of an environment where "mistakes can happen," Thurman said. Despite the rescinding of the guidance, hospitals and physicians are still required to provide stabilizing care, experts said. "EMTALA is still the law of the land. Hospitals and doctors must still comply with EMTALA," Astrid Ackerman, a staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights who worked on filing EMTALA complaints, told ABC News. "What we're really concerned about is that this trend of that pregnant people cannot get the care that they need in this country, and more importantly, the care that hospitals and doctors want to provide," Ackerman said. Tanner said there is a real concern about whether the Trump administration will enforce EMTALA, especially after it dropped a federal lawsuit over Idaho's abortion ban, which does not allow abortions to save the life of the mother. An injunction in a separate EMTALA lawsuit by a hospital system in the state has blocked the ban. Doctors and hospitals are now stuck between "a rock and a hard place," trying to figure out what care they can provide, Tanner said. "Doctors and hospitals are being put in an untenable position. On the one hand, they are faced with state laws that would potentially impose severe criminal sanctions for providing necessary emergency abortion care," Tanner said. "And on the other hand, they have the federal law, EMTALA, which provides that both the federal government and individual patients can sue the hospital if they do not provide the necessary stabilizing care required under federal law," Tanner said.

Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law, a federal inquiry finds
Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law, a federal inquiry finds

CNN

time5 days ago

  • Health
  • CNN

Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law, a federal inquiry finds

Maternal health Women's health Abortion rightsFacebookTweetLink Follow A Texas hospital that repeatedly sent a woman who was bleeding and in pain home without ending her nonviable, life-threatening pregnancy violated the law, according to a newly released federal investigation. The government's findings, which have not been previously reported, were a small victory for 36-year-old Kyleigh Thurman, who ultimately lost part of her reproductive system after being discharged without any help from her hometown emergency room for her dangerous ectopic pregnancy. But a new policy the Trump administration announced on Tuesday has thrown into doubt the federal government's oversight of hospitals that deny women emergency abortions, even when they are at risk for serious infection, organ loss or severe hemorrhaging. Thurman had hoped the federal government's investigation, which issued a report in April after concluding its inquiry last year, would send a clear message that ectopic pregnancies must be treated by hospitals in Texas, which has one of the nation's strictest abortion bans. 'I didn't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Thurman said in an interview with the Associated Press from her Texas home this week. 'I put a lot of the responsibility on the state of Texas and policy makers and the legislators that set this chain of events off.' Women around the country have been denied emergency abortions for their life-threatening pregnancies after states swiftly enacted abortion restrictions in response to a 2022 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes three appointees of President Donald Trump. The guidance issued by the Biden administration in 2022 was an effort to preserve access to emergency abortions for extreme cases in which women were experiencing medical emergencies. It directed hospitals — even ones in states with severe restrictions — to provide abortions in those emergency cases. If hospitals did not comply, they would be in violation of a federal law and risk losing some federal funds. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the law and inspecting hospitals, announced on Tuesday it would revoke the Biden-era guidance around emergency abortions. CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a social media post on Wednesday that the revocation of the policy would not prevent pregnant women from getting treatment in medical emergencies. 'The Biden Administration created confusion, but EMTALA is clear and the law has not changed: women will receive care for miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and medical emergencies in all fifty states—this has not and will never change in the Trump Administration,' Oz wrote, using the acronyms for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The law, which remains intact and requires doctors to provide stabilizing treatment, was one of the few ways that Thurman was able to hold the emergency room accountable after she didn't receive any help from staff at Ascension Seton Williamson in Round Rock, Texas in February of 2023, a few months after Texas enacted its strict abortion ban. Emergency room staff observed that Thurman's hormone levels had dropped, a pregnancy was not visible in her uterus and a structure was blocking her fallopian tube — all telltale signs of an ectopic pregnancy, when a fetus implants outside of the uterus and has no room to grow. If left untreated, ectopic pregnancies can rupture, causing organ damage, hemorrhage or even death. Thurman, however, was sent home and given a pamphlet on miscarriage for her first pregnancy. She returned three days later, still bleeding, and was given an injected drug intended to end the pregnancy, but it was too late. Days later, she showed up again at the emergency room, bleeding out because the fertilized egg growing on Thurman's fallopian tube ruptured it. She underwent an emergency surgery that removed part of her reproductive system. CMS launched its investigation of how Ascension Seton Williamson handled Thurman's case late last year, shortly after she filed a complaint. Investigators concluded the hospital failed to give her a proper medical screening exam, including an evaluation with an OB-GYN. The hospital violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients. Thurman was 'at risk for deterioration of her health and wellbeing as a result of an untreated medical condition,' the investigation said in its report, which was publicly released last month. Ascension, a vast hospital system that has facilities across multiple states, did not respond to questions about Thurman's case, saying only that it is 'is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services.' Doctors and legal experts have warned abortion restrictions like the one Texas enacted have discouraged emergency room staff from aborting dangerous and nonviable pregnancies, even when a woman's life is imperiled. The stakes are especially high in Texas, where doctors face up to 99 years in prison if convicted of performing an illegal abortion. Lawmakers in the state are weighing a law that would remove criminal penalties for doctors who provide abortions in certain medical emergencies. 'We see patients with miscarriages being denied care, bleeding out in parking lots. We see patients with nonviable pregnancies being told to continue those to term,' said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights that represented Thurman. 'This is not, maybe, what some people thought abortion bans would look like, but this is the reality.' The Biden administration routinely warned hospitals that they need to provide abortions when a woman's health was in jeopardy, even suing Idaho over its state law that initially prohibited nearly all abortions, unless a woman's life was on the line. But CMS' announcement on Tuesday raises questions about whether such investigations will continue if hospitals do not provide abortions for women in medical emergencies. The agency said it will still enforce the law, 'including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy.' While states like Texas have clarified that ectopic pregnancies can legally be treated with abortions, the laws do not provide for every complication that might arise during a pregnancy. Several women in Texas have sued the state for its law, which has prevented women from terminating pregnancies in cases where their fetuses had deadly fetal anomalies or they went into labor too early for the fetus to survive. Thurman worries pregnant patients with serious complications still won't be able to get the help they may need in Texas emergency rooms. 'You cannot predict the ways a pregnancy can go,' Thurman said. 'It can happen to anyone, still. There's still so many ways in which pregnancies that aren't ectopic can be deadly.'

Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy broke the law, inquiry finds
Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy broke the law, inquiry finds

NBC News

time5 days ago

  • Health
  • NBC News

Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy broke the law, inquiry finds

WASHINGTON — A Texas hospital that repeatedly sent a woman who was bleeding and in pain home without ending her nonviable, life-threatening pregnancy violated the law, according to a newly released federal investigation. The government's findings, which have not been previously reported, were a small victory for 36-year-old Kyleigh Thurman, who ultimately lost part of her reproductive system after being discharged after receiving no help from her hometown emergency room for her dangerous ectopic pregnancy. But a new policy the Trump administration announced Tuesday has thrown into doubt the federal government's stance on hospitals' denying women emergency abortions, even when they are at risk for serious infection, organ loss or severe hemorrhaging. Thurman had hoped the federal government's investigation, which was concluded last year and issued a report in April, would send a clear message that ectopic pregnancies must be treated by hospitals in Texas, which has one of the nation's strictest abortion bans. 'I didn't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Thurman said in an interview with the Associated Press from her Texas home this week. 'I put a lot of the responsibility on the state Uncertainty regarding emergency abortion access Women around the country have been denied emergency abortions for their life-threatening pregnancies after states swiftly enacted abortion restrictions in response to a 2022 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes three appointees of President Donald Trump. The guidance issued by the Biden administration in 2022 was an effort to preserve access to emergency abortions for extreme cases in which women were in medical emergencies. It directed hospitals — even ones in states with severe restrictions — to provide abortions in those emergency cases. If hospitals did not comply, they would be in violation of a federal law and risk losing some federal funds. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the law and inspecting hospitals, announced on Tuesday it would revoke the Biden-era guidance around emergency abortions. CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a social media post on Wednesday that the revocation of the policy would not prevent pregnant women from getting treatment in medical emergencies. 'The Biden Administration created confusion, but EMTALA is clear and the law has not changed: women will receive care for miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and medical emergencies in all fifty states—this has not and will never change in the Trump Administration,' Oz wrote, using the acronyms for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The law, which remains intact and requires doctors to provide stabilizing treatment, was one of the few ways that Thurman was able to hold the emergency room accountable after she didn't receive any help from staff at Ascension Seton Williamson in Round Rock, Texas, in February 2023, a few months after Texas enacted its strict abortion ban. An ectopic pregnancy left untreated Emergency room staff observed that Thurman's hormone levels had dropped, a pregnancy was not visible in her uterus and a structure was blocking her fallopian tube — all telltale signs of an ectopic pregnancy, when a fetus implants outside of the uterus and has no room to grow. If left untreated, ectopic pregnancies can rupture, causing organ damage, hemorrhage or even death. Thurman, however, was sent home and given a pamphlet on miscarriage for her first pregnancy. She returned three days later, still bleeding, and was given an injected drug intended to end the pregnancy, but it was too late. Days later, she showed up again at the emergency room, hemorrhaging because the fertilized egg growing on Thurman's fallopian tube ruptured it. She underwent an emergency surgery that removed part of her reproductive system. CMS launched its investigation of how Ascension Seton Williamson handled Thurman's case late last year, shortly after she filed a complaint. Investigators concluded the hospital failed to give her a proper medical screening exam, including an evaluation with an OB-GYN. The hospital violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients. Thurman was 'at risk for deterioration of her health and wellbeing as a result of an untreated medical condition,' the investigation said in its report, which was publicly released last month. Ascension, a vast hospital system that has facilities across multiple states, did not respond to questions about Thurman's case, saying only that it is 'is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services.' Penalties for doctors, hospital staff Doctors and legal experts have warned that abortion restrictions like the one Texas enacted have discouraged emergency room staff from aborting dangerous and nonviable pregnancies, even when a woman's life is imperiled. The stakes are especially high in Texas, where doctors face up to 99 years in prison if convicted of performing an illegal abortion. Lawmakers in the state are weighing a law that would remove criminal penalties for doctors who provide abortions in certain medical emergencies. 'We see patients with miscarriages being denied care, bleeding out in parking lots. We see patients with nonviable pregnancies being told to continue those to term,' said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights that represented Thurman. 'This is not, maybe, what some people thought abortion bans would look like, but this is the reality.' The Biden administration routinely warned hospitals that they needed to provide abortions when a woman's health was in jeopardy, even suing Idaho over its state law that initially prohibited nearly all abortions, unless a woman's life was on the line. Questions remain about hospital investigations But CMS' announcement on Tuesday raises questions about whether such investigations will continue if hospitals do not provide abortions for women in medical emergencies. The agency said it will still enforce the law, 'including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy.' While states like Texas have clarified that ectopic pregnancies can legally be treated with abortions, the laws do not provide for every complication that might arise during a pregnancy. Several women in Texas have sued the state for its law, which has prevented women from terminating pregnancies in cases where their fetuses had deadly fetal anomalies or they went into labor too early for the fetus to survive. Thurman worries pregnant patients with serious complications still won't be able to get the help they may need in Texas emergency rooms. 'You cannot predict the ways a pregnancy can go,' Thurman said. 'It can happen to anyone, still. There's still so many ways in which pregnancies that aren't ectopic can be deadly.'

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