The federal government has launched its first confirmed investigation of an alleged denial of an abortion to a woman experiencing a medical emergency.
In late October, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services opened an investigation at Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, Missouri, under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, department spokesperson Lisa Cox told KHN. It was authorized by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which contracts with state agencies to conduct EMTALA surveys.
The case involves a woman whose water broke early in her pregnancy, but the hospital refused to let doctors perform an abortion. She eventually sought medical help outside the state.
