Attorney General Bonta: Draconian Hospital Policies Denying Emergency Abortion Care Have No Place in California | State of California – Department of Justice

Sues Providence St. Joseph Hospital for denying emergency abortion care

The lawsuit accuses the hospital of violating several laws, including the California Emergency Medical Services Act (the state analogue of the federal EMTALA law).

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Hospital (Providence) in Eureka, California. In the lawsuit filed in Humboldt County Superior Court, the attorney general alleges that Providence violated several California laws by refusing to provide emergency abortion care to people with obstetric emergencies. One particular patient, Anna Nusslock, experienced a hydrocele on February 23, 2024, when she was 15 weeks pregnant with twins. Despite the imminent threat to her life and health, and despite the fact that her pregnancy was no longer viable, Providence refused to treat her. She had to go to a small intensive care hospital 12 miles away called Mad River, where she was already bleeding profusely as she lay on the operating table. In addition to filing the complaint, the Attorney General is immediately seeking an injunction to ensure that patients like Anna in Providence receive timely emergency medical care, including abortion care.

“California is the beacon of hope for so many Americans across the country trying to access abortion services since the Dobbs decision. “It is damning that here in California, where abortion is a constitutional right, we have a hospital implementing a policy reminiscent of heartbeat laws in extremist red states.” said Attorney General Bonta. “With today’s lawsuit, I want to make it clear to all Californians: abortion care is health care. You have the right to access timely and safe abortion services. At the California Department of Justice, we will use the full power of this office to hold accountable those who, like Providence, break the law.”

In February 2024, Anna Nusslock was fifteen weeks pregnant with twins when she visited Providence in pain and heavy bleeding after her water broke prematurely. In Providence, the doctor diagnosed Nusslock with predictable premature rupture of the membranes before birth (predictable PPROM) and confirmed that her twins would not survive. Her diagnosis also meant she was at increased risk of permanent damage or death from infection and bleeding without abortion treatment. Still, Providence told her that hospital policy prohibits them from offering that emergency care while one of her twins has a “detectable heartbeat.” Only when there was imminent danger to Nusslock's life – more imminent danger than she already faced – would the hospital give her the treatment she needed.

Instead of providing Nusslock with emergency medical abortion care as required by law, Providence released her with instructions to drive to a small community hospital nearly 12 miles away. On the way to the door, Providence handed Nusslock a bucket and towels “in case something happens in the car.”

Providence policy prohibits doctors from providing life-saving or emergency stabilizing treatment if doing so would result in the termination of a pregnancy, even if the pregnancy is not viable. Not only does this violate California law, this policy also discriminates against pregnant patients because the hospital is making the decision for them.

Today's complaint accuses Providence of violating the California Emergency Medical Services Act (the state analogue of the federal EMTALA law), the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the Unfair Competition Act. In addition, the Attorney General sought a preliminary injunction and requested a court order to ensure that patients receive immediate emergency medical care, including abortion care. This is particularly critical as the hospital – Mad River Community Hospital – where Anna ultimately had her abortion will be closing its Labor and Delivery (L&D) unit in October this year. In a month, Providence will be the only hospital with an L&D department in all of Humboldt County. The next person in Anna's situation faces the agonizing decision of risking a several-hour drive to another hospital or waiting until they are close enough to death for providence to intervene.

This lawsuit asserts the crucial right to emergency abortion care under California law, while the extent of federal protection for such care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) remains uncertain. Under EMTALA, every hospital in the United States that operates an emergency department and participates in Medicare is required to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients experiencing a medical emergency. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent establishing a constitutional right to abortion Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health OrganizationEMTALA should have provided critical backstop and guaranteed that a pregnant patient received the emergency care, including abortion care, she needed, regardless of her condition. But last summer Idaho v. USAThe U.S. Supreme Court declined to confirm that EMTALA requires hospitals to provide necessary abortion care to pregnant patients experiencing medical emergencies, regardless of any state law to the contrary. With EMTALA in limbo, states like California must rely on their own state laws to protect pregnant patients. ​

California Attorney General Bonta remains committed to ensuring that California remains a safe haven for those seeking essential reproductive health care, including abortion care. For more information about his actions and important resources to help you obtain reproductive health care, visit

If you are looking for information specific to abortion, the California Abortion Access website provides a safe place to find resources and guidance. The privacy of visitors to this website is protected and their information is not stored or tracked.

California law requires hospitals to provide emergency abortion care. Click here to find out more.

If you were denied an abortion that you needed in a medical emergency or were denied other emergency medical care, you can contact [email protected].

A copy of the lawsuit and injunction filed today can be found here and here.