Senate chairman demands answers from emergency rooms that denied care to pregnant patients

Amanda Seitz, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hospitals are facing questions astir why they denied attraction to pregnant patients and whether authorities abortion bans person influenced really they dainty those patients.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, sent inquiries to 9 hospitals up of a proceeding Tuesday looking astatine whether abortion bans person prevented aliases delayed pregnant women from getting thief during their miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies aliases different aesculapian emergencies.

He is portion of a Democratic effort to attraction nan nation’s attraction connected nan stories of women who person faced horrible realities since immoderate states tightened a patchwork of abortion laws. The strict laws are injecting chaos and hesitation into nan emergency room, Wyden said during Tuesday’s hearing.

“Some states that person passed abortion bans into rule declare that they incorporate exceptions if a woman’s life is astatine risk,” Wyden said. “In reality, these exceptions are forcing doctors to play lawyer. And lawyer to play doctor. Providers are scrambling to make intolerable decisions betwixt providing captious attraction aliases a imaginable jailhouse sentence.”

Republicans connected Tuesday assailed nan hearing, pinch outright denials astir nan effect abortion laws person connected nan aesculapian attraction women successful nan U.S. person received, and called nan proceeding a politically-motivated onslaught conscionable weeks up of nan statesmanlike election. Republicans, who are noticeably nervous astir really nan caller abortion laws will play into nan statesmanlike race, lodged repeated complaints astir nan hearing’s title, “How Trump Criminalized Women’s Health Care.”

“Unfortunately, arsenic demonstrated by nan overtly partisan quality of nan title, it appears that nan intent of today’s proceeding is to people governmental points against nan erstwhile president,” said Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, a Republican.

A national rule requires emergency rooms to supply stabilizing attraction for patients, a instruction that nan Biden management argues includes abortions needed to prevention nan wellness aliases life of a woman. But anti-abortion advocates person based on that nan rule besides requires hospitals to stabilize a fetus, too. The Senate Finance Committee comes into play because it oversees Medicare funding, which tin beryllium yanked erstwhile a infirmary violates nan national law.

The Associated Press has reported that more than 100 women person been denied care successful emergency rooms crossed nan state since 2022. The women were turned distant successful states pinch and without strict abortion bans, but doctors successful Florida and Missouri, for example, elaborate successful immoderate cases they could not springiness patients nan curen they needed because of nan state’s abortion bans. Wyden sent letters to 4 of nan hospitals that were included successful nan AP’s reports, arsenic good arsenic a infirmary astatine nan halfway of a ProPublica study that recovered a Georgia female died aft doctors delayed her treatment.

Reports of women being turned away, respective Republicans argued, are nan consequence of misinformation aliases misunderstanding of abortion laws.

RELATED | Idaho rule forced women retired of authorities for abortions. They item ‘grim’ experiences

OB-GYN Amelia Huntsberger told nan committee that she became very acquainted pinch Idaho’s abortion law, which initially only allowed for abortions if a female was astatine consequence for death, erstwhile it went into effect successful 2022. So did her husband, an emergency room doctor. A twelvemonth ago, they packed and moved their family to Oregon arsenic a result.

“It was clear that it was inevitable: if we stayed successful Idaho, astatine immoderate constituent location would beryllium conflict betwixt what a diligent needed and what nan laws would let for,” Huntsberger said.

Huntsberger is not alone. Idaho has mislaid astir 50 OB-GYNs since nan state’s abortion prohibition was put into place.