Hospital that sent bleeding woman away with a bucket and towels’ instead of giving her an emergency abortion says it won’t do the same thing again

Left: California Attorney General Rob Bonta takes questions from the media in Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File). Center: Providence St. Joseph

Left: California Attorney General Rob Bonta takes questions from the media in Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File). Center: Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital in Eureka, Calif., is shown (KAEF). Right: Anna Nusslock speaks at a press conference (KAEF).

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that a Catholic hospital in Eureka has agreed to provide emergency abortion care to its patients while a lawsuit against it proceeds.

Bonta sued Providence St. Joseph Hospital in state court in California in September for violating state law by refusing to provide emergency abortions to people experiencing obstetric emergencies. The lawsuit focused on the case of Anna Nusslock, who had been pregnant with twins. Nusslock’s water broke when she was 15 weeks pregnant on Feb. 23, 2024. Bonta said that although doctors told Nusslock her pregnancy was no longer viable and that she needed an abortion to prevent serious health risks, the Catholic hospital refused to provide abortion care because a fetal heartbeat had been detectable.

As a result, Bonta said, Nusslock was forced to travel to another hospital 12 miles away while she was actively hemorrhaging. Per the lawsuit, Providence “offered her a bucket and towels on her way out the door ‘in case something happened in the car.’”

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