With Rob Bonta’s lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, California, Jeffrey Kopp discusses the horrifying journey Anna Nusslock, a pregnant woman, undertook as doctors voiced their fear over the health risks associated with her miscarriage. However, because one of the fetuses had a discernible heartbeat, they could not perform an abortion. Doctors requested an airlift, but due to the associated costs, driving to Mad River Community Hospital twenty minutes away with an increased chance of hemorrhaging, remained the only possibility. As predicted, by the time Nusslock reached Mad River Community Hospital, she was already hemorrhaging, which violated California’s law, requiring hospitals with an emergency room to treat someone in a medical crisis, and California’s constitutional prioritization over abortion care. In spite of the events that played out, Providence reasoned that Nusslock failed to understand the expectations for complex pregnancies of her caliber, resulting in the hospital’s inability to perform further care. This is just one tragic example of the effects of the abortion ban on women.
A Tulane University study found that states with restrictive abortion policies had much higher maternal mortality rates. As a country that prides itself on progression and innovation, it certainly feels backward to discover that more women are dying from pregnancy and childbirth in recent years compared to when abortion bans were in place.
In light of the 2024 Presidential Election results, there has been an increase in concerns regarding the future of abortion access, as well as women’s reproductive healthcare. President Trump has said many times before that he does not care for abortion access, and will most likely continue to allow and encourage the abortion bans to satisfy his conservative base. As of December 8, he has said that he does not plan on restricting abortion pills, but that could always change. Knowing that doctors are being prosecuted for helping women in states such as Texas receive abortion access is terrifying, as it shows the government’s commitment to following through on these rulings. It’s also affected the way medicine works across state borders, and having these divisions in healthcare and society can only negatively impact patient care and equity in the healthcare system.
We have no confirmation regarding the future of abortion access in the United States, but as a generation immediately affected by this decision, we are concerned for our autonomy and reproductive rights.
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