Hospital denies claims by Texas woman that doctors failed to treat ectopic pregnancy

Editor’s note: This article has been edited to adjust the language describing the treatment of ectopic pregnancies. For more further reading, please read this follow-up story on the federal complaint.

A Texas hospital is pushing back against claims by a Texas woman that doctors failed to treat her ectopic pregnancy when her life was at risk. Two women last week filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights. Kyleigh Thurman and Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz are asking the federal government to investigate the hospitals.

What happened? Both women had possible ectopic pregnancies, when the embryos attach themselves to their mother’s fallopian tubes. If the condition isn’t treated, the mother’s fallopian tubes could rupture and cause severe internal bleeding and death, according to the Mayo Clinic. Such pregnancies are not viable and cannot proceed normally, according to the clinic, and they are considered life-threatening medical emergencies.

When Thurman and Norris-De La Cruz sought medical care for their ectopic pregnancies, each at different hospitals on different occasions, medical staff refused to treat them, according to their complaints. Thurman initially sought treatment at Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital in Feb. 2023. Medical staff initially turned her away but eventually relented and provided her with emergency surgery that ended the pregnancy after her OB/GYN pleaded with them to do so, her lawsuit claims. Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital refused to offer treatment when Norris-De La Cruz first arrived at the hospital in Feb. 2024, according to her lawsuit. She eventually obtained a second OB/GYN’s opinion, and that doctor rushed her into an emergency abortion procedure.

The Center for Reproductive Rights alleged that the hospitals violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, by turning the women away. The act requires medical facilities to perform abortions in emergencies when a woman’s life or health is at risk. Texas law protects nearly all unborn babies from abortion, with exceptions to protect the life of the mother. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this summer ruled that hospitals in Idaho have to abort unborn babies in situations EMTALA requires them to, regardless of state law.

WORLD reached out to both Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital and Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital for comment. Ascension responded with a written statement flatly denying the allegations and characterizing them as misinformation that was spread irresponsibly. When a patient experiences an urgent, life-threatening condition during pregnancy, clinicians do provide medically indicated treatment, even if it may result in the removal of an ectopic pregnancy, the hospital said. The hospital went on to say that such removals are difficult and tragic for the patient, but unfortunately are not unique or rare. The law does not prevent the hospital from taking medically necessary actions, the hospital added.

Dig deeper: Read Erin Hawley’s column in WORLD Opinions about the Supreme Court’s ruling on EMTALA earlier this summer.