A lawsuit filed Tuesday by the National Women’s Law Center and others alleges The University of Kansas Health System violated state and federal laws when they refused to perform an emergency abortion on Mylissa Farmer in 2022.
According to court documents, Farmer was nearly 18 weeks pregnant and experiencing a miscarriage when she went to The University of Kansas Health System emergency room in Kansas City, Kansas, for help.
Kenna Titus, a spokesperson for the National Women’s Law Center, says the hospital denied Farmer an emergency abortion and did not administer medical care.
“They sent her home with an active risk of developing sepsis or hemorrhaging, losing her fertility, even dying,” Titus says. “So this was a violation, not only of the hospital policies, but this was against the law.”
What lawyers say happened
On the morning of Aug. 2, 2022, Farmer was just shy of 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke and she began experiencing cramps, bleeding and abdominal pressure, according to court documents.
The lawsuit says Farmer went to an emergency room near her home in Joplin, Missouri, where doctors confirmed her water broke early and determined her cervix was dilated and she had lost all of her amniotic fluid.
The doctors told Farmer pregnancy loss was “inevitable,” court documents say, and because of previous pregnancy complications and loss, they told Farmer she could face serious damage to her health or die if she waited to terminate the pregnancy.
Despite this, the suit says, doctors at the Joplin hospital denied an emergency abortion, citing Missouri’s abortion ban. The state’s near-total ban had gone into effect in June of that year, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutionally protected right to an abortion afforded by Roe v. Wade. The doctors advised that Farmer seek lifesaving care outside of Missouri.
Titus says after an urgent search for a hospital, Farmer and her husband made the three-hour drive to The University of Kansas Health System.
“This was an exceptionally difficult journey for Mylissa,” she says. “She was in a lot of pain. She was heartbroken.”
Farmer and her husband arrived at the KU emergency room late at night on Aug. 2. It was Election Day; Kansans were voting whether to protect abortion rights in the state. (Voters ultimately rejected the proposed constitutional amendment that would have restricted abortion, which remains legal in Kansas up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.)
Farmer was bleeding heavily and checked into the labor and delivery unit, according to the suit. Lawyers say a doctor examined her and confirmed her pregnancy was no longer viable.
Titus says the doctor initially recommended an abortion to Farmer, and then left the room.
“When she came back, she told her that they were not actually going to be able to provide that care because it was too risky in the heated political environment,” Titus says.
Titus says KU did not offer pain medication or antibiotics to Farmer.
Lawyers allege the hospital flouted Kansas nondiscrimination laws by sending a pregnant patient home. They also say the hospital violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, also known as EMTALA, which requires hospitals to stabilize patients in a health crisis before transferring or dismissing them.
Court documents say Farmer was discharged from the Kansas hospital at 1:29 a.m. Aug. 3. Farmer returned to the hospital in Joplin, where she was admitted for observation and her health began to deteriorate.
On Aug. 5, after another long drive, doctors at an abortion clinic in Illinois terminated Farmer’s pregnancy.
The lawsuit notes that a first-of-its-kind federal investigation of Farmer’s case found last year that The University of Kansas Health System broke federal law when denying her an abortion.
What KU is saying
In an emailed statement to the Kansas News Service, a spokesperson for The University of Kansas Health System denied the claims made in the lawsuit and says they intend to address the allegations in “the appropriate forum.”
The spokesperson says the health system complies with all applicable laws and regulations to provide high-quality care to all patients, regardless of how they get to the hospital.
“While we cannot comment publicly on the specifics of an individual patient’s care, The University of Kansas Health System believes that the care provided to Ms. Farmer was entirely appropriate, non-discriminatory, and in compliance with all applicable law,” the statement reads.
Farmer’s demands
Court documents say Farmer suffered from an infection after the miscarriage and experienced multiple health complications as a result of KU’s denial of care.
Additionally, Titus says Farmer still faces major financial repercussions because she lost her home and was forced to move out of the state.
“It resulted in her having to miss time from work, losing her job, ultimately,” Titus says. “And the physical and the psychological effects from this are still harming Ms. Farmer to this day. She's been traumatized.”
Titus says Farmer wants financial compensation from KU. But she also wants the court to issue a declaration stating the hospital violated the law.
“She doesn't want this to happen to anyone else,” Titus says. “It is important to Ms. Farmer, and it is important for all of us, that we be clear … that this should not happen again.”
Who is involved
In addition to the National Women’s Law Center, Farmer’s defense team consists of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Dugan Schlozman LLC, an Overland Park, Kansas, firm.
In addition to The University of Kansas Health System, the board that oversees the hospital, The University of Kansas Hospital Authority, is named as a defendant.
Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga reports on health care disparities and access for the Kansas News Service. You can email her at r.shackelford@kcur.org.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
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