HHS has determined that OU Health providers did not violate the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act when they denied an abortion to a woman with a nonviable pregnancy in early 2023, according to information obtained by the Associated Press.
Last fall, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a complaint with HHS on behalf of Jaci Statton, a 26-year-old Oklahoma resident who was diagnosed with a partial molar pregnancy, a rare complication in which the embryo has too many chromosomes for a pregnancy to continue correctly and can cause life-threatening complications if left untreated.
The complaint accused Oklahoma Children's Hospital and the University of Oklahoma Medical Center — part of OU Health in Oklahoma City — of violating EMTALA when medical staff acknowledged that Ms. Statton's condition was serious when she arrived at the ED, but said they were unable to provide an abortion until her condition deteriorated further. According to the complaint, they suggested Ms. Statton wait in the parking lot so she could be close by when her condition worsened. She ended up traveling out of state to receive care.
The complaint, filed in September, said, "Staff made it clear why they were refusing to treat Jaci, telling her, in sum and in substance, that they believed that they were prevented from providing care due to Oklahoma law until Jaci was near death."
On Jan. 19, the Center for Reproductive Rights confirmed to the Associated Press that the complaint had been denied. CMS sent a letter to Ms. Statton in October, saying its investigation could not "confirm a violation" of EMTALA. HHS did not immediately respond to the news outlet's request for comment.
EMTALA is a long-standing federal law requiring hospitals to provide all patients appropriate emergency care. Last summer, when the law became the center of legal disputes over abortion in certain states, HHS sent guidance to hospitals specifying that "stabilizing treatment could include medical and/or surgical interventions, including abortion," and that EMTALA preempts state law where abortion is prohibited.
The federal law has been at the center of ongoing legal disputes related to abortion access in states that restrict the procedure. In April, the Supreme Court will hear a case after the Biden administration sued Idaho, arguing the state's strict abortion ban violates EMTALA.