Rob Bonta by Douglas Despres / California Attorney General's Office (Left), Adobe Stock (Right)
CV NEWS FEED // California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, seeking a “permanent end” to the Catholic hospital’s current policy banning abortion procedures with the exception of immediate risk to the mother’s life.
According to a September 30 report from The Mendocino Voice, the lawsuit stems from an incident in February when Anna Nusslock, 15 weeks pregnant with twin girls, sought medical care after experiencing preterm complications.
Diagnosed with previable preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), Nusslock was informed that her twins were not viable, and she was at risk of infection or hemorrhage, according to the report.
However, since one of her twins still had a detectable heartbeat, Providence St. Joseph Hospital, a Catholic institution, followed its policy against performing abortions unless there was a direct and immediate risk to the mother’s life.
According to the lawsuit, doctors recommended an abortion to reduce health risks, but the hospital’s policy barred the abortion at that time. Nusslock was eventually referred to another nearby hospital, where she received the abortion.
According to The Mendocino Voice report, the lawsuit “claims Providence St. Joseph Hospital’s policy bars doctors from providing lifesaving or stabilizing emergency abortion care even when the pregnancy is not viable,” and “seeks a permanent end” to the hospital’s policy.
Additionally, Bonta has requested a preliminary injunction to immediately prevent the hospital from abiding by the policy.
As CatholicVote reported in August, Bonta is currently being sued by nonprofit pregnancy center Culture of Life Family Services, represented by the Thomas More Society attorneys. Bonta had been attempting to prevent the pregnancy center from providing information about the Abortion Pill Reversal procedure, an effort the Thomas More Society called “politically motivated and blatantly unconstitutional.”
