Denied abortion put woman at risk, suit alleges

Two Dignity Health hospitals are accused of endangerment due to Catholic directives.

- BY CLARA HARTER

A California woman is suing Dignity Health, alleging two hospitals denied her emergency abortion services due to their Catholic directives, violating state law and putting her life in danger.

During two separate pregnancies, Rachel Harrison's water broke at just 17 weeks — a condition that can cause deadly complications. An abortion is typically the course of action recommended by doctors, but on both occasions, staff members at Dignity Health hospitals refused to act because they detected a fetal heartbeat, the lawsuit alleges.

The second time it happened, Harrison experienced life-threatening sepsis and had to travel to a hospital outside her insurance network to receive a blood transfusion, the complaint states.

Harrison, 30, and her partner, Marcell Johnson, filed a lawsuit against Dignity Health in San Francisco County Superior Court on Sept. 26. The claim, first reported by Courthouse News Service, alleges that subsidiaries Mercy San Juan Medical Center and Mercy General Hospital refused to provide her emergency abortion care for religious reasons.

"While waiting to learn if I would lose my child, my own life, or both, I felt deep pain and despair. I was traumatized. There is simply no way to justify the inhumane actions of Dignity Health," Harrison said in a statement provided by a representative.