California sues Catholic hospital over allegedly refusing to provide an abortion

SACRAMENTO, California — Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing a rural Catholic hospital for allegedly refusing to provide an abortion to a patient even though her pregnancy was not viable and her health was at risk.

"We have a hospital policy reminiscent of heartbeat laws in extremist red states," Bonta said at a press conference Monday. "We've heard tragic stories from across the country of women denied life-saving treatment, but it usually comes out of states that have outlawed abortion. We're not immune from this problem."

This is the first time a state has gone after a hospital for violations of post- abortion protections. The federal government has sued hospitals in Texas and Idaho, but no state has tested abortion-rights protections in this way.

Anna Nusslock's water broke in February when she was 15 weeks pregnant with twins.

Though doctors told her her pregnancy was no longer viable, Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka would not terminate her pregnancy because of a hospital policy, according to the lawsuit, filed in Humboldt County Superior Court.

Nusslock, who spoke at the news conference, says she was sent away with a bucket of towels to help with her bleeding.

The case accuses the Eureka hospital of violating state laws by not providing abortions for people experiencing miscarriages or "other obstetric emergencies." The hospital has a policy that prohibits the termination of a pregnancy when there is a "detectable heartbeat," until there was immediate risk to Nusslock's life, according to the complaint.

Bonta is seeking an injunction to guarantee that patients are getting emergency health care, including abortion.