Current Events > Emergency Rooms refuse to treat pregnant women; one miscarried in lobby restroom

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://apnews.com/article/pregnancy-emergency-care-abortion-supreme-court-roe-9ce6c87c8fc653c840654de1ae5f7a1c

One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to check her in. 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 couldnt offer an ultrasound. The baby later died.
Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal.
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, its 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.
Its happened despite federal mandates that the women be treated.
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 dont 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. The Biden administration has sued Idaho over its abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, arguing it conflicts with the federal law.

No woman should be denied the care she needs, Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said in a statement. All patients, including women who are experiencing pregnancy-related emergencies, should have access to emergency medical care required under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
PREGNANCY CARE AFTER ROE
Pregnant patients have become radioactive to emergency departments in states with extreme abortion restrictions, said Sara Rosenbaum, a George Washington University health law and policy professor.
They are so scared of a pregnant patient, that the emergency medicine staff wont even look. They just want these people gone, Rosenbaum said.
Consider what happened to a woman who was nine months pregnant and having contractions when she arrived at the Falls Community Hospital in Marlin, Texas, in July 2022, a week after the Supreme Courts ruling on abortion. The doctor on duty refused to see her.
The physician came to the triage desk and told the patient that we did not have obstetric services or capabilities, hospital staff told federal investigators during interviews, according to documents. The nursing staff informed the physician that we could test her for the presence of amniotic fluid. However, the physician adamantly recommended the patient drive to a Waco hospital.
Investigators with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concluded Falls Community Hospital broke the law.
Reached by phone, an administrator at the hospital declined to comment on the incident.
The investigation was one of dozens the AP obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request filed in February 2023 that sought all pregnancy-related EMTALA complaints the previous year. One year after submitting the request, the federal government agreed to release only some complaints and investigative documents filed across just 19 states. The names of patients, doctors and medical staff were redacted from the documents.
Federal investigators looked into just over a dozen pregnancy-related complaints in those states during the months leading up to the U.S. Supreme Courts pivotal ruling on abortion in 2022. But more than two dozen complaints about emergency pregnancy care were lodged in the months after the decision was unveiled. It is not known how many complaints were filed last year as the records request only asked for 2022 complaints and the information is not publicly available otherwise.
The documents did not detail what happened to the patient turned away from the Falls Community Hospital.

There's more in the article.

Make no mistake. This was by design.

These bullshit ass draconian laws had one outcome and it's what we're seeing.

And not a single fucking person who proposed or passed these legislations gives a remote shit of a fuck to do anything to help the situation.

Just one of the many reasons repubs are not going to have a fun November.

mybbqrules posted...

Just one of the many reasons repubs are not going to have a fun November.

I'm hoping that you're right, but also fearing that you're wrong.

But remember both sides!

Please bask in my above average intelligence

Before entering this topic, I knew this was happening in a red State.

That is so fucked up

Let me guess, the women were not white?

Zikten posted...

Let me guess, the women were not white?

Doesn't matter. Republicans hate all women.

Republican politicians love hearing about women suffering.

All the more reason show them the door this November.

Something like this happened in Ohio and they charged the woman with a felony then dropped it after media pressure.

mybbqrules posted...

Just one of the many reasons repubs are not going to have a fun November.

If enough young people don't vote because of Israel he might lose.

This is what the GOP wants and our resident deplorables are slobbering over it.

Full_Pokedex posted...

If enough young people don't vote because of Israel he might lose.

You'd sure love that, huh?

Zikten posted...

Let me guess, the women were not white?

They're all just dick holsters to Repugs, no matter their color.

That's a big wall of text. I tried to read it all but I didn't really digest it.

Why exactly were pregnant women turned away? And what does that have to do with roe v Wade? They weren't trying to get abortions? The hospital's supposed to help them give birth.

America explain! please

deoxxys posted...

That's a big wall of text. I tried to read it all but I didn't really digest it.

Why exactly were pregnant women turned away? And what does that have to do with roe v Wade? They weren't trying to get abortions? The hospital's supposed to help them give birth.

America explain! please

Your questions are, quite literally, answered in the article that you just admitted you refuse to read.

deoxxys posted...

Why exactly were pregnant women turned away? And what does that have to do with roe v Wade? They weren't trying to get abortions? The hospital's supposed to help them give birth.

If the birth isn't successful, then the lawmakers behind the draconian anti-abortion laws in these states could see that "miscarriage" and charge the mother and the doctors with murder of the unborn child. So many doctors in these states are scared to even help a pregnant woman because they might end up as "murderers" in the eyes of the law and be sent to prison even if they did nothing wrong.

Gross. I can't believe we had this law forced on us even no one voted for it. Just some old men who can never be replaced till they die. It's evil.

Thanks for the explanation it makes perfect sense now.

Women are being VASTLY underestimated in the narrative and the "polling".

GOP is going to lose worse than most people think, watch.

deoxxys posted...

Gross. I can't believe we had this law forced on us even no one voted for it. Just some old men who can never be replaced till they die. It's evil.

Thanks for the explanation it makes perfect sense now.

This seems like an interesting post coming from somebody who openly mocked people for being upset about Roe v Wade being overturned, and suggested they were crazy for thinking it'd lead to worse things, like... exactly this

StealThisSheen posted...

You'd sure love that, huh?

No? What makes you think I would gain anything from Trump winning. Just because I'm not voting for Biden doesn't mean I want him to lose, I just think my choice is better.

Full_Pokedex posted...

No? What makes you think I would gain anything from Trump winning. Just because I'm not voting for Biden doesn't mean I want him to lose, I just think my choice is better.

Your history of posts supporting right wing talking points, for one. Those just so happen to conveniently mesh with "I refuse to vote for Biden."

SpawnShadow posted...

I'm hoping that you're right, but also fearing that you're wrong.

I won't lie I have some worry still also, but republicans octupling down on being anti-abortion has consistently proven to be absolutely suicidal in every election where that is at all a talking point. More than once including in red states.

(that doesn't change the GOP being disgusting as fuck, though. my god.)

Is anyone surprised? This is what they wanted

Full_Pokedex posted...

If enough young people don't vote because of Israel he might lose.

Its already been established repeatedly that you have no clue what you're talking about in regards to topics like this, and you just regurgitate your right wing parent's talking points.

StealThisSheen posted...

Your history of posts supporting right wing talking points, for one. Those just so happen to conveniently mesh with "I refuse to vote for Biden."

I don't want Trump to win. Ok?

Dudebusters posted...

This seems like an interesting post coming from somebody who openly mocked people for being upset about Roe v Wade being overturned, and suggested they were crazy for thinking it'd lead to worse things, like... exactly this

I think you're confusing me for somebody else.

I've always been vehemently against Roe V Wade being overturned. Let alone mocking people for it. Always been very pro-abortion.

@dudebusters

deoxxys posted...

I think you're confusing me for somebody else.

I've always been vehemently against Roe V Wade being overturned. Let alone mocking people for it. Always been very pro-abortion.

@dudebusters

deoxxys
Oh yeah Im sure after that the tide will rise making only the middle of the states livable and goats will gain sentience and we will have to bow to our goats overlords.

deoxxys
Lmao you guys seriously think there's going to be some revert

These were your posts leading straight up to RvW being overturned, and people wondering what would be next

I get it though it's probably difficult to remember what troll positions you've taken in the past since you do it so often

I think I need more context than that. The first post sounds like I'm just being absurd in response to somebody acting like the sky is falling. Not indicative of having a lack of support for abortion.

The second post makes it sound like I doubt as if abortion would ever be actually be illegal. Like having the mindset that there's no way that would happen.

deoxxys posted...

I think I need more context than that. The first post sounds like I'm just being absurd in response to somebody acting like the sky is falling. Not indicative of having a lack of support for abortion.

The second post makes it sound like I doubt as if abortion would ever be actually be illegal. Like there's no way that or whatever happen right?

It was a post you made right as they were overturning Roe V wade and you made it to mock people that were wondering if gay marriage would be next. You were intentionally belittling people who were upset over Roe V Wade being overturned and preparing for the worst.

The topic title was "You think America will lose marriage equality and inter racial marriage?" and it was made because RvW was in the process of being overturned. You intentionally entered the topic to mock people.

Dudebusters posted...

It was a post you made right as they were overturning Roe V wade and you made it to mock people that were wondering if gay marriage would be next. You were intentionally belittling people who were upset over Roe V Wade being overturned and preparing for the worst.

Thanks for the extra context. Looking back at that, It was kind of insensitive. But I know why I made that comment now. I was tired of reading exaggerated responses (a buildup across many topics) that act like It's going to be so bad that it will be like we are going to start living in a dystopian cyberpunk hell hole where fear rules the streets, yatta yatta.

deoxxys posted...

Thanks for the extra context. Looking back at that, It was kind of insensitive. But I know why I made that comment now. I was tired of reading exaggerated responses that act like It's going to be so bad that it will be like we are going to start living in a dystopian cyberpunk hell hole where fear rules the streets, yatta yatta.

Nah that doesn't fly because you just posted general troll shit in general, such as "Should a toddler be able to decide they're trans?" topics. Also even following your logic... Were they wrong?

I mean Roe v Wade being appealed massively blindsided me I didn't think anything like that would ever happen. I still strongly doubt something like gay marriage would be repealed and if it ever was I'd be just as surprised.

Getting access to womens healthcare has been so much more difficult now that my state has banned abortion.

Getting treatment for a UTI became so complicated that I literally developed sepsis because I could not get treatment in time. That would have not happened in a blue state, because womens healthcare centers would be open instead of banned.

deoxxys posted...

I mean Roe v Wade being appealed massively blindsided me I didn't think anything like that would ever happen. I still strongly doubt something like gay marriage would be repealed and if it ever was I'd be just as surprised.

You made said posts while it was being overturned. For something that blindsided you, you sure didn't seem to have any trouble trolling people who grew greatly concerned about other things, from it.

I think I've said all that needs to be said. We know who you are.

This is exactly what happens when you strip bodily autonomy away from people and make a life threatening procedure a liability. People can call the hospitals heartless all they want, but the nurses and doctors can literally go to jail for performing procedures on high risk patients if the baby were to somehow die in the middle of it. 100% of the problem was overtuning Roe Vs Wade and implementing draconian ruling regarding this shit. If people were smart, they would be targeting the main problem, unwanted pregnancies and not the symptom of the problem.

I'm fucking emotional right now reading that article because it hits really close to home. My wife second pregnancy was also consider a "high risk procedure" and thank goodness she was able to delivery our baby boy a month ago. If I was back in my home State (Texas) that overturned Roe V Wade, there was a good chance I would've lost my son. I can only imagine the pain many of these women and their families felt because of the consequence of this crap.

mybbqrules posted...

Just one of the many reasons repubs are not going to have a fun November.

"Yes, Republicans took away my reproductive rights, but imagine what the Democrats could have done instead!"

deoxxys posted...

that act like It's going to be so bad that it will be like we are going to start living in a dystopian cyberpunk hell hole where fear rules the streets, yatta yatta.

Yea I think the problem you might be having is thinking its normal democracy and then fascism over night.

Its a years long process where rights and laws/norms are dismantled one by one.

Overturning gay marriage is easily on the table, actually more likely than not, if trump wins again.

Hold on, yo deoxxys I saw your deleted post, so let me continue. Do you want me to post the topic where you ranted about the ADL and defended white supremacists? Or maybe the topic where you mocked record rates of young people having anxiety? The numerous topics where you derided women for having onlyfans accounts? The numerous dailymail/fox news/etc. topics about "trans incidents?"

I'll let you choose.

Dudebusters posted...

You made said posts while it was being overturned. For something that blindsided you, you sure didn't seem to have any trouble trolling people who grew greatly concerned about other things, from it.

I think I've said all that needs to be said. We know who you are.

I didn't enter the topic to purposely mock people.

I actually enter a lot of topics meaning to post my disgust but seeing people take make these crazy predictions usually makes me stop and hit topic list. In that instance I guess I just chose to poke fun at them instead.

You seem to have plenty of free time to dig through people's posts, If you really want, you can find I have always supported abortion. Or not I don't really gaf. I know what I believe and the people that matter to me know what I believe.

nocturnal_traveler posted...

Before entering this topic, I knew this was happening in a red State.

Before entering this topic, I knew which red states it was happening in.

If the birth isn't successful, then the lawmakers behind the draconian anti-abortion laws in these states could see that "miscarriage" and charge the mother and the doctors with murder of the unborn child. So many doctors in these states are scared to even help a pregnant woman because they might end up as "murderers" in the eyes of the law and be sent to prison even if they did nothing wrong.

I'm guessing there's more to it than just that. These draconian laws probably drove a lot of obstetricians (esp. those of emergency obstetrics) into early retirement, so smaller hospitals like the the Falls Community Hospital in Marlin, Texas (which has a population of a mere 5k residents) probably don't have any doctors qualified to treat pregnancy emergencies anymore. Prior to the repeal of Roe v Wade, rural areas already had a problem with not only a lack of emergency rooms, but existing ones that are severely understaffed and underequipped. The ER doctor who told the woman that they don't offer obstetric services was probably telling the truth, and not just trying to shoo her away.
Again, this example takes place in a town with a population of 5,500.

So the repeal of Roe v Wade is greatly accelerating the loss of obstetricians which was already a problem, and while it hurts everybody, it disproportionately affects red/rural voters.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Roe needs to be reestablished under something other than Griswold and the penumbral privacy rights that Roe read from it. Something more substantive and concrete.

Women will continue dying until then, or until congress enshrines the right to abortion into law.

Full_Pokedex posted...

I don't want Trump to win. Ok?

Then vote for Biden.

That is literally the choice in this election. Third party bullshit has no place in the discussion when democracy is on the line.

deoxxys posted...

Thanks for the extra context. Looking back at that, It was kind of insensitive. But I know why I made that comment now. I was tired of reading exaggerated responses (a buildup across many topics) that act like It's going to be so bad that it will be like we are going to start living in a dystopian cyberpunk hell hole where fear rules the streets, yatta yatta.

You're right. We live in a non dystopia where women aren't being turned away from doctors offices because of unviable-

Oh

deoxxys posted...

I still strongly doubt something like gay marriage would be repealed and if it ever was I'd be just as surprised.

You're being foolish.

The Thomas Court deliberately and openly signaled and interest in flipping gay marriage and sodomy laws when it penned the Dobbs decision.

In a normal court, if that many cases based on a similar precedent flipped l, all of them would. But, because Thomas is in an interracial marriage, he'd find a crave out since that would ordinarily affect him.

Otherwise we'd lose interracial marriage for the post-Dobbs trifecta.