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In It to Win It

(8,275 posts)
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 01:52 AM Apr 19

Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom

Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom


WASHINGTON (AP) — One woman miscarried in the restroom lobby of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. 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 couldn't 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, it’s 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.”

It's 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 don’t have the staff or resources to treat them. Medical facilities must comply with the law if they accept Medicare funding.
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Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom (Original Post) In It to Win It Apr 19 OP
Absolutely HORRIFIC! Texasgal Apr 19 #1
plus one BlueWaveNeverEnd Apr 19 #2
I wish people who had blankets just put them down on the floor and make the woman Maraya1969 Apr 19 #55
Horrifying cate94 Apr 19 #3
So very pro-life of them. nt BWdem4life Apr 19 #4
And Trump proudly proclaimed oasis Apr 19 #5
Horrible! betsuni Apr 19 #6
Greg Abbott should pay for this with his stinking hide DemocraticPatriot Apr 19 #7
Take him out Jilly_in_VA Apr 19 #52
tar and feather him drmeow Apr 19 #59
Is there any recourse? Can they just do this? nt Baltimike Apr 19 #8
Recourse? Try taking it to the US Supreme Court. Irish_Dem Apr 19 #10
You misspelled Subversive Court. Hermit-The-Prog Apr 19 #36
American pets and livestock receive better care than women. Irish_Dem Apr 19 #9
Was thinking, better chance of not dying, go to a veterinarian. betsuni Apr 19 #11
Anyone who helps a pregnant female faces prison. Irish_Dem Apr 19 #12
Women are showing their power though. Elessar Zappa Apr 19 #37
I hope so. It is despicable what the GOP is doing to females. Irish_Dem Apr 19 #39
To be more specific, American pets and livestock receive better care than RED STATE women. ShazzieB Apr 19 #41
Good point. In red states pets and livestock receive better care than women. Irish_Dem Apr 19 #42
DEAD people have more rights than a pregnant woman in the US. OMGWTF Apr 19 #49
True, hospitals don't throw bodies out in the parking lot to rot. Irish_Dem Apr 19 #50
Simply barbaric, bordering on murder. TeamProg Apr 19 #13
The Corporate Catamites? They're out there working for fascism ArkansasDemocrat1 Apr 19 #17
KNR got exposure. nt TeamProg Apr 19 #14
I heard this story, almost word-for-word, on my local news radio station (CBS-affiliate) early this morning. BumRushDaShow Apr 19 #15
Barbaric. This is 18th century midwifery without the midwife. bucolic_frolic Apr 19 #16
All in the name of a benevolent and loving deity. Ping Tung Apr 19 #18
Yup Farmer-Rick Apr 19 #30
Barbaric. Passages Apr 19 #19
Similar incident in my red community. shrike3 Apr 19 #20
... Hugin Apr 19 #21
Being pregnant hasn't been this dangerous since the 1600's! lindysalsagal Apr 19 #22
And it has all been totally unnecessary Mad_Machine76 Apr 19 #26
I'd change that to the 1800s. ShazzieB Apr 19 #43
the women involved should sue the hospitals into oblivion moonshinegnomie Apr 19 #23
I've been thinking that: hospitals are run by insurance litigation lindysalsagal Apr 19 #29
Exactly no one Farmer-Rick Apr 19 #31
I'm betting the sadistic court is Zilli Apr 19 #24
Insane Mad_Machine76 Apr 19 #25
Given the laws in Texas, this should be manslaughter Cuthbert Allgood Apr 19 #27
Isn't the woman also a person? Retrograde Apr 19 #38
I like how you think. calimary Apr 20 #61
There will be more more instances of this kind of twisted logic that has gone into these OAITW r.2.0 Apr 19 #51
Pro-life. dchill Apr 19 #28
Gynoticians keithbvadu2 Apr 19 #32
Awful!! Keep this exposed in the media. LeftInTX Apr 19 #33
Sickening and infuriating! Diamond_Dog Apr 19 #34
At least some of them probably shrug these things off as "God's will." 🙄 ShazzieB Apr 19 #44
Yep, you're right. Diamond_Dog Apr 19 #45
"It's only one incident" pazzyanne Apr 19 #58
It is a war on women PatSeg Apr 19 #35
They're "working" on that, too. calimary Apr 20 #62
Texas is dysfunctional. Martin68 Apr 19 #40
Cousins with FL. live love laugh Apr 19 #46
This just proves that Republcans are not human. They are not normal people. Republicans LIVE on hate, cruelty, Traurigkeit Apr 19 #47
And I keep running into people who are moving to TX and FL. live love laugh Apr 19 #48
Shithole States vanlassie Apr 19 #54
Either Jilly_in_VA Apr 19 #53
Remember, remember the 5th of November. VOTE BLUE!!!! japple Apr 19 #56
Horrific. Thanks Repukes. Make America 1860 again. And they are. F 'em all. Evolve Dammit Apr 19 #57
So DENVERPOPS Apr 19 #60

Texasgal

(17,047 posts)
1. Absolutely HORRIFIC!
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 02:04 AM
Apr 19

I am so annoyed and hurt by this action!

We MUST get this turned around.. women and children are suffering!

I could just SPIT!!!!

Maraya1969

(22,490 posts)
55. I wish people who had blankets just put them down on the floor and make the woman
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 07:27 PM
Apr 19

comfortable, (much more so than in a damn toilet!). Anyway, allow the poor woman to lay there until the emergency room doctors make them give her a room.


We have become one of those "Shithole" countries. I am not kidding about that.

Jilly_in_VA

(9,992 posts)
52. Take him out
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 06:37 PM
Apr 19

draw and quarter him, for this and his other sins. He is the least Christian of all our so-called "Christian" governors. Or maybe just stake him to an anthill.

Irish_Dem

(47,270 posts)
9. American pets and livestock receive better care than women.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 06:52 AM
Apr 19

This is how the GOP wants it.
They value pets and livestock more than human females.

Elessar Zappa

(14,022 posts)
37. Women are showing their power though.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 01:37 PM
Apr 19

And I believe they’ll come out in droves this November, up and down the ballot. I truly believe it. Women will NOT go back.

ShazzieB

(16,476 posts)
41. To be more specific, American pets and livestock receive better care than RED STATE women.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 01:48 PM
Apr 19

Last edited Fri Apr 19, 2024, 03:00 PM - Edit history (2)

FTFY, because I think this is an important distinction.

America now has a two-tier health care system for women, determined by which political party is in power in each state. All because the corrupt conservative majority that controls our broken SCOTUS decided to allow individual states to take away a constitutional right that all women in this country had for almost 50 years.

I live in a blue state where doctors are still allowed to provide health care services for people of all genders without a bunch of ignorant politicians telling them what services they can provide to which patients, and the contrast between here and places like Texas is stark.

Irish_Dem

(47,270 posts)
42. Good point. In red states pets and livestock receive better care than women.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 01:52 PM
Apr 19

Which tells us how much these states value women.

OMGWTF

(3,972 posts)
49. DEAD people have more rights than a pregnant woman in the US.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 06:03 PM
Apr 19

You have to give prior written consent for anyone to use your body parts after you're dead.

Irish_Dem

(47,270 posts)
50. True, hospitals don't throw bodies out in the parking lot to rot.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 06:08 PM
Apr 19

Like they do with pregnant women.

A security guard doesn't send an ambulance away with a dead body like they do a pregnant woman.

BumRushDaShow

(129,339 posts)
15. I heard this story, almost word-for-word, on my local news radio station (CBS-affiliate) early this morning.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 09:58 AM
Apr 19

So at least these poor women are getting "national" exposure.

Ping Tung

(630 posts)
18. All in the name of a benevolent and loving deity.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 10:40 AM
Apr 19

Or, it proves that the "Benevolent and loving" part is false advertising.

Farmer-Rick

(10,200 posts)
30. Yup
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 12:01 PM
Apr 19

There is no medical reason to force birth on women. None at all.

It's all due to this magical imaginary idea that a human embryo or fetus is a special god creation. Somehow animal embryos and fetuses aren't god's creations and therefore they can be aborted. It's done all the time when people wait too long to get their pets fixed or neutered.

But human females, they have to be controlled and forced to birth that magical fetus because of the imaginary super daddy in the sky.

Passages

(134 posts)
19. Barbaric.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 10:50 AM
Apr 19

It can take months for the hospitals to receive fines?

Our conservative SCOTUS is a terrible travesty.

shrike3

(3,720 posts)
20. Similar incident in my red community.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 10:59 AM
Apr 19

Woman was told to "go home and miscarry." She started bleeding so heavily her husband rushed her to the hospital. She passed out in front of the hospital as they were trying to get her into a wheelchair. She was very lucky she survived. This was a wanted child, btw. Tragic for the family. I talked to her mother last night. Physically, she feels much better. But she's considering quitting her job (they can afford it) and stay home with her other children. Really changed her view of things.

Mad_Machine76

(24,426 posts)
26. And it has all been totally unnecessary
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 11:15 AM
Apr 19

I mean, we haven't been bombed back to the stone age or anything. There's no excuse for stuff like this to be happening in the year of our lord 2024

ShazzieB

(16,476 posts)
43. I'd change that to the 1800s.
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 02:17 PM
Apr 19

Not to minimize what's going on now, but a lot of things have changed in just the past 150 years or so. We're so used to thinking of childbirth as relatively safe that it's easy to forget how recently it was anything but.

For example, we now take it for granted that doctors are going to wash their hands before performing surgery or delivering a baby, but this was not the norm everywhere throughout most of the 19th century. It was common for women to have a healthy delivery and then die from a completely preventable infection.

We also have imaging technologies now that allow doctors to see exactly what's going on inside someone's body and surgical techniques (i.e., c-section) for intervention when vaginal delivery is not feasible due to the size and/or position of the fetus.

Al, these things and more have greatly increased the chances of a sare and healthy delivery for mother and baby. Except in red states, where doctors are being forced to practice medicine according to the whims of ignorant politicians rather than 21st century standards of care.

It's an outrage and a travesty, and it makes me mad enough to chew nails.

moonshinegnomie

(2,474 posts)
23. the women involved should sue the hospitals into oblivion
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 11:12 AM
Apr 19

sue the hospitals the doctors and the administrators that run the hospitals for multi millions if not billions

lindysalsagal

(20,718 posts)
29. I've been thinking that: hospitals are run by insurance litigation
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 11:57 AM
Apr 19

If they're not going to provide emergency help to pregnant women, who will?

Zilli

(190 posts)
24. I'm betting the sadistic court is
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 11:12 AM
Apr 19

proud of this outcome and will continue to do all it can to destroy we the people with an emphasis on women. This is the party of "life" .......

Mad_Machine76

(24,426 posts)
25. Insane
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 11:13 AM
Apr 19

What year is it even?! How did Republicans/SCOTUS think this was going to work in this day and age? Or ever?!

Cuthbert Allgood

(4,947 posts)
27. Given the laws in Texas, this should be manslaughter
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 11:16 AM
Apr 19

If the fetus is a person and the woman can be charged for an abortion, the hospital left a person to die.

Retrograde

(10,145 posts)
38. Isn't the woman also a person?
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 01:42 PM
Apr 19

Or is she just a fetus-host?

I get confused easily- if an ovum becomes a person at the moment of fertilization, when does a female human go from being a person to being a (disposable) incubator?

OAITW r.2.0

(24,556 posts)
51. There will be more more instances of this kind of twisted logic that has gone into these
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 06:36 PM
Apr 19

Republican state laws. Given enough lawsuits, there may be a large exodus of hospitals operating in Red States. Laws have consequences - not just on individuals, but on society as a whole.

ShazzieB

(16,476 posts)
44. At least some of them probably shrug these things off as "God's will." 🙄
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 02:22 PM
Apr 19

Last edited Fri Apr 19, 2024, 02:59 PM - Edit history (1)

pazzyanne

(6,556 posts)
58. "It's only one incident"
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 07:55 PM
Apr 19

"This does't happen every day."

Seriously I had this discussion with my Maga sister last week. The discussion ended when I asked her what she would do if this happened to "your" daughter. She didn't answer, but I know she would be heading for the nearest blue state border with her daughter in the car. She didn't actually say it's okay for me to save mine, but not for you.

Jilly_in_VA

(9,992 posts)
53. Either
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 06:41 PM
Apr 19

the government starts suing the hospitals and breaks their backs financially that way, or it stops their federal aid. IT'S THE LAW that they have to treat or transport pregnant women. Either they do it or they lose. No ifs, ands, or buts.

DENVERPOPS

(8,844 posts)
60. So
Fri Apr 19, 2024, 11:59 PM
Apr 19

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 don’t have the staff or resources to treat them. Medical facilities must comply with the law if they accept Medicare funding.

So stop paying their medicare and/or medicaid payments.......and let the patient start a lawsuit.......

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