In February 2024, Anna Nusslock was 15 weeks pregnant when her water broke. When she went to her local hospital in Eureka California, she learned that the twins she and her husband had so desperately wanted were not viable. Further, her own health was in danger, and she needed an emergency abortion to prevent hemorrhaging and infection.
But Providence St. Joseph Hospital refused to provide the care she required because doctors could detect fetal “heart tones.” Further, despite clear signs Nusslock’s life was in peril and her twins could not survive, the ER’s attending physician told her she was not “sufficiently close to death” to receive emergency abortion care.
In severe pain, she waited along for several hours, before she was discharged to go to another hospital — with an offer of a bucket and towels. She drove herself to hospital that was 12 miles away, after a doctor told her that if she tried to drive to a more distant hospital, “…you will hemorrhage and die before you get to a place that can help you.”
A doctor at the receiving hospital said: “She arrived hemorrhaging and passing a blood clot the size of an apple. She expelled one fetus and was rushed into the operating room so the other fetus could be removed.” The doctor wrote that she had treated other patients denied abortions by Providence St. Joseph in similar circumstances.
Six months later, Nusslock said she had recovered physically but still felt the emotional toll. “This experience deeply traumatized me,” she said, “and I have been dealing with tremendous anxiety, grief, and depression ever since.”
In October 2024, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the Catholic hospital detailing Nusslock’s dangerous experience and alleging the hospital violated multiple state laws when they discharged her. In April 2005, Nusslock also sued Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka and its parent companies, in hopes the action will force the company’s California hospitals to follow state law.
Sources:
- California woman sues Catholic hospital chain over emergency abortion denial. LA Times, by Sonja Sharp. April 1, 2025.
- California Sues Catholic Hospital for Denying Emergency Abortion Care. By Nina Martin, Mother Jones. Sept 30, 2024.
- Catholic hospital offered a bucket and towels to woman it denied abortion, California AG says. by Molly Castle Work. The 19th News. Oct 4, 2024