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Why It Matters
Every person in need of emergency medical care—including abortion care—deserves to get it without exceptions and without delays. Hospitals should not determine a patient’s care based on their religious or personal beliefs; rather, care should be determined by what is best for the patient’s health and circumstances. This lawsuit seeks to hold a hospital system accountable for violating California laws requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortion care without discrimination.
Our Lawsuit
On April 1, 2025, the National Women’s Law Center filed a lawsuit against the Providence hospital system challenging their discriminatory refusal to provide emergency abortion care.
Dr. Anna Nusslock went to the emergency room in Humboldt County, California, in the middle of the night with heavy bleeding, after her “water broke” just 15 weeks into her pregnancy. She was diagnosed with previable, preterm, premature rupture of membranes (previable PPROM). Even though Anna’s doctor determined that she needed an abortion to prevent an imminent risk to her life and health, Providence’s religious policies prevented the doctor from providing the necessary care. Instead of treating Dr. Nusslock’s emergency medical condition, Providence St. Joseph Hospital staff sent her away with a bucket and towels.
As alleged in the lawsuit, Providence’s policy violates California’s Emergency Services Law and the state’s Unruh Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex—including pregnancy and pregnancy-related medical conditions. Anna Nusslock filed her lawsuit in Humboldt County Superior Court against St. Joseph Health of Northern California, LLC, which runs Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, California, and its parent companies that manage the larger Providence hospital system.
This case highlights the severe limitations patients face in emergency situations, particularly in rural areas or remote regions, like Humboldt County, where religious hospitals dominate the health care system. Hospitals cannot be allowed to pick and choose which emergencies they treat based on ideology.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting Providence from denying other pregnant patients emergency treatment under similar circumstances. It also seeks monetary damages in order to hold Providence accountable for the harm Dr. Nusslock suffered when she was terrified that she was going to bleed to death.
Dr. Nusslock’s horrifying story is one of many where patients have been denied potentially lifesaving care—and the problem has gotten even worse since Roe v. Wade was overturned. These aren’t isolated incidents—they’re part of a dangerous trend. Our lawsuit exposes a growing national crisis as hospitals increasingly defy state and federal laws requiring them to provide emergency care, like California’s Emergency Services law and the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
NWLC, and our client Dr. Nusslock, will keep fighting to ensure that every pregnant patient can access the emergency care they need and to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.
Related Lawsuit Brought by the Attorney General of California on Behalf of the State
Dr. Nusslock’s private lawsuit comes after the California Attorney General’s office brought an action on behalf of the State of California against St. Joseph Health of Northern California, LLC, which manages the hospital that denied her care, for failing to provide Dr. Nusslock with emergency abortion care. (NWLC also represents Dr. Nusslock in the California Attorney General’s lawsuit, but does not represent the State of California.)
California’s lawsuit highlights the danger that the hospital’s policy poses, particularly to Humbolt County residents now that St. Joseph Hospital has the only Labor & Delivery ward in the area, leaving pregnant patients unable to get the emergency care they need.
The State of California seeks a permanent injunction ordering the hospital to follow the law. (Unlike the private lawsuit, the Attorney General does not seek monetary damages on Dr. Nusslock’s behalf, and the state’s case was brought against the local hospital, not the larger hospital system.)
The hospital agreed in a court order to comply with state law by permitting doctors to provide emergency abortion care when necessary. Then, it sought to dismiss the state’s case and is now arguing it can avoid following the law whenever the law conflicts with its interpretation of religious doctrine. Before the hearing on the hospital’s motion to dismiss the case, the community held a rally in support of Dr. Nusslock. Scores of people turned out on a cold and drizzly morning, and every seat in the hearing room was full of community members showing up to support protecting pregnant patients.
If you or a loved one has experienced a denial of emergency abortion care at any hospital in California, you can reach out to the Attorney General’s office. You can also reach out to our Legal Network for Gender Equity if you would like to be connected to local attorneys regarding a denial of reproductive health care.
Court Filings
Nusslock v. St. Joseph Health, et al. Humbolt County Superior Court
State of CA v. Saint Joseph Health (Attorney General’s case) Humboldt County Superior Court
Press Releases
In the News
NWLC’s Lawsuit
Providence St. Joseph Faces Another Abortion Lawsuit | News | North Coast Journal
State of CA Lawsuit
California Sues Hospital for Denying Patient an Emergency Abortion – The New York Times
California sues Catholic hospital over allegedly refusing to provide an abortion – Politico
California hospital illegally denied emergency abortion, AG Rob Bonta alleges in lawsuit
Dozens rally before the newest California vs St. Joseph Hospital Hearing