California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Sept. 30 a lawsuit alleging that Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka—a city on the state’s far north coast in Humboldt County—refused to provide an emergency abortion.
According to court documents, patient Anna Nusslock’s water broke in February while 15 weeks pregnant with twins, leaving her pregnancy nonviable and at risk of infection and hemorrhaging. The attorney general alleged the hospital denied access to abortion as Nusslock faced an “immediate threat to her life and health.”
The doctor allegedly told Nusslock that as long as one of her twins had a detectable heartbeat, the hospital would not provide an abortion.
She was allegedly given a bucket and a towel “in case something happens” and told to drive to the nearest hospital in Mad River, about 20 minutes away and the only other facility within 100 miles.
Nusslock said she was traumatized by the situation.
“I needed an abortion so my husband didn’t lose both of his daughters and his wife in one night,” she said during Bonta’s press conference.
The attorney general alleges in the complaint that Providence turns away one or two women per year who need abortions due to medical emergencies.
“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,” said Garry Olney, chief executive for Providence’s Northern California service area. “This was a tragic situation that did not meet our high standards for safe, quality, compassionate care.”
Olney said the company will work on training and education to prevent a similar occurrence.
“As devasted as we are, we can’t begin to imagine what the patient and her family have been through,” Olney said. “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.”
Bonta argued in court documents that California law requires licensed hospitals with emergency departments to provide necessary care, including abortion, when the person is in life-threatening danger.
The patient mentioned in the lawsuit said she is speaking out in hopes that other Californians will be protected.
“I don’t want other people in my community to experience the same life-threatening harm that I experienced,” Nusslock said during the attorney general’s press conference.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, which upended the federal right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade and returned the issue to individual states, California officials including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Bonta have been positioning the state as a sanctuary for those seeking abortion, as some other states have enacted stricter abortion laws.
