Since states were allowed to ban abortion, more than a hundred pregnant women in need have not received adequate or at all help from emergency rooms, even though hospitals are legally obligated to help them.

From news agency research AFP Doctors sometimes appear to refuse to perform abortions on women in need. They fear violating the abortion law, which could result in long prison sentences. However, refusing to intervene can put a woman’s life at risk, as failure to perform a necessary abortion sometimes poses serious health risks.

One woman who didn’t get help was Kylie Thurman. She had an ectopic pregnancy. The fertilized egg grows outside the uterine cavity, meaning the embryo can never develop into a baby.

The 25-year-old woman arrived at the emergency room, reporting that she was bleeding and in severe pain. Doctors in Texas gave her a miscarriage pamphlet with the message that she should “let nature take its course” and sent her away without treatment.

When Thurman returned three days later, still bleeding, doctors decided to give her an injection that ended the pregnancy. But the treatment came too late. One of her fallopian tubes had ruptured with the mature egg. She returned to the hospital a third time, bleeding profusely. She had to undergo emergency surgery because her life was in danger.

A landmark Supreme Court ruling two years ago ended abortion rights nationwide in the United States. Since then, states have been able to decide for themselves whether to allow abortion. Texas is one of fourteen states that have chosen one. ban.

But state rules are subject to national rules. Federal law states that hospitals are required to perform abortions if it is necessary for the woman’s health.

However, doctors fear persecution, making them reluctant to provide care, according to the pro-choice Center for Reproductive Rights. In Texas, a doctor who performs an illegal abortion can face up to 99 years in prison.

To prove that an abortion is medically necessary and therefore not “illegal,” doctors must determine the presence of an ectopic pregnancy. Several doctors told the AP that’s difficult. The location of the fertilized egg can’t always be seen on an ultrasound. “You can never be 100 percent sure.”

“But as much as hospitals and doctors fear violating state abortion rules, they also have to worry about violating federal law,” said attorney Mark Herron of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which has filed two lawsuits against the hospitals.

The problems are not limited to states that ban abortion. Lack of staff and resources at hospitals also means that pregnant patients in need are often referred to other hospitals, even in states that do not ban abortion.

In California, a delay in recognizing an emergency resulted in the death of a baby. In other states, pregnant women were sometimes treated inappropriately or turned away, with dire consequences for mother and baby.

Dara Kass, an emergency physician and former employee of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, warns that the combination of staffing shortages and abortion laws can make emergency rooms a dangerous place for pregnant women.

She stresses that it has become increasingly unsafe for them to seek emergency hospital care, which has serious consequences for public health and the safety of pregnant patients.

Why has abortion been a hot topic in the United States for years? Reporter Marieke de Vries explains in this video: