State of California Sues Hospital for Denying Abortion, Allegedly Offering 'Bucket and Towels'

Mar. 15, 2025

Anna Nusslock, who was allegedly denied an emergency abortion when her water broke at 15 weeks.

The State of California is suing a hospital after it allegedly denied a woman anemergency abortion.

The Catholic-affiliated hospital Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka allegedly denied Anna Nusslock, 36, an emergency abortion after her water prematurely broke, leaving her susceptible to infection and other complications, according to a report in theNew York Times.

Nusslock, a chiropractor from Eureka, Calif., was 15 weeks pregnant with twins when her water broke, the outlet reports. Doctors told her the babies were not viable and if the pregnancies were not terminated, she could hemorrhage, develop an infection — and negatively affect her future fertility.

Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, California.Google Maps

Google Maps

However, the outlet reports, because fetal heartbeats were detected, the hospital would not perform anabortionunless Nusslock’slife was at risk, citing the hospital’s own policy.

Yet according to theCleveland Clinic, fetal tissue remaining in the uterus can cause “infection, which can damage your reproductive organs or even cause dangerous complications like sepsis when left untreated.”

On Sept. 30, the State of Californiafiled a lawsuitagainst the hospital, alleging that it violated California law that mandates hospitals with emergency rooms provide care to prevent not only death, but “serious injury or illness.”

The suit alleges that “instead of providing the emergency medical care she needed, Providence Hospital offered her a bucket and towels.”

Abortion rights protesters march in California.David McNew/Getty Images

Further details of Nusslock’s experience are alleged in the lawsuit, including that the doctor at Providence advised she be helicoptered to University of California, San Francisco Medical Center for treatment. When Nusslock brought up the $40,000 cost, the suit says her doctor told her, “If you try to drive, you will hemorrhage and die before you get to a place that can help you.”

The suit alleges that Providence Hospital’s “conduct was not only dangerous and inhumane, but also illegal in multiple ways,” citing Calfornia’s Emergency Services Law, which the suit says “specifically prohibits the kind of patient dumping Anna experienced.”

“This experience deeply traumatized me, and I have been dealing with tremendous anxiety, grief, and depression ever since,” Nusslock said, according to theNew York Times.

The hospital responded with a statement issued in aFacebook post, writing, “As you have likely heard, yesterday we learned that the California attorney general filed a lawsuit alleging that we denied emergency care to a pregnant patient in Humboldt County earlier this year.”

“We are heartbroken over the experience this patient had while in our care and reached out to her today in an effort to express our profound apologies.”

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“This was a tragic situation that did not meet our high standards for safe, quality, compassionate care. We are immediately re-visiting our training, education and escalation processes in emergency medical situations to ensure that this does not happen again and to ensure that our care teams have the training and support they need to deliver the best possible care for each patient we serve."

“As devastated as we are, we can’t begin to imagine what the patient and her family have been through. We will learn from this and renew our commitment to ensuring that the care and experience we deliver are aligned with our high standards, every time and in every care setting.”

Mad River, the hospital that ultimately treated Nusslock, is closing its labor and delivery unit soon, theNew York Timesreports, which means that treatment options in the area will be further limited.

source: people.com