Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images(NEW YORK) Hospitals in Missouri and Kansas violated federal law last summer when they refused to provide an emergency abortion to a woman who went into premature labor at nearly 18 weeks and risked developing a life-threatening infection, according to initial findings in a government investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The investigation, which is the first of its kind, underscores the persistent legal confusion in several states that ban abortions but carve out exceptions when a patient s life is at risk. Abortion rights advocates say there s no clear standard on when a health condition is serious enough to intervene and that doctors are often unclear on how to treat medical complications in a way that won t violate anti-abortion statutes.
In the case of Mylissa Farmer of Joplin, Missouri, she was told she risked developing an infection and other serious complications if she remained pregnant after her water broke, inves
(NEW YORK) Hospitals in Missouri and Kansas violated federal law last summer when they refused to provide an emergency abortion to a woman who went into premature labor at nearly 18 weeks and risked developing a life-threatening infection, according to initial findings in a government investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.