NWLC Supports California AG’s Motion to Ensure Providence Hospital Provides Emergency Abortion Care

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (June 5, 2025)  — Today, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion to enforce an existing agreement with Providence Hospital in Eureka to provide emergency abortion care as required by state law. The State’s lawsuit is based on what happened to NWLC’s client Dr. Anna Nusslock, who was illegally denied critical care during a medical emergency in 2024.

In October 2024, the hospital had agreed to allow its doctors to provide emergency abortion care. However, the hospital has since attempted to evade responsibility by seeking dismissal of the State of California’s lawsuit, claiming an exemption from the state’s longstanding emergency care law on religious grounds.

K.M. Bell, senior litigation counsel at NWLC and attorney for Dr. Nusslock, issued the following statement:

“We applaud the Attorney General for continuing to hold Providence accountable for violating the law and endangering patients’ lives. The hospital cannot agree to follow state law in a court order and then walk away when it becomes inconvenient. Dr. Nusslock is still grappling with the trauma of being denied emergency abortion care, a violation that should never have happened in the first place. This motion is a crucial step in ensuring that hospitals in California are not permitted to disregard their legal obligations and prioritize ideology over patient safety. The law in California is clear: pregnant patients have the right to emergency care, including abortion. Providence Hospital must be held to its word and the law.”