Nusslock's harrowing experience reveals critical issues regarding abortion care denial within Catholic hospitals, raising questions about civil rights violations. Although doctors recommended an emergency abortion to prevent infection, hospital policies prevented this action, leading to Nusslock filing lawsuits against Providence, the operating health system. The case reflects broader concerns regarding reproductive health access, with many women facing barriers in emergency circumstances and illustrates California's struggle to safeguard abortion rights amid changing federal judicial landscapes. The Catholic health systems' significant share of maternity care in California emphasizes these access challenges especially in rural areas.
Nusslock felt her civil rights were being violated, she said, even as she lay in the hospital bed curled in on herself, bleeding and mourning the loss of her twin girls.
Both complaints allege that Providence, the Catholic health system that owns St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, illegally denied Nusslock emergency abortion care and discharged her instead.
They also allege that multiple pregnant women have been denied abortions at St. Joseph Hospital during medical emergencies.
The disputes playing out in a small courtroom in Eureka highlight the limits of California's efforts to protect abortion rights since the Supreme Court in 2022 repealed federal protections granted under Roe vs. Wade.
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