Senate chairman demands answers from emergency rooms that denied care to pregnant patients

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hospitals are facing questions about why they denied care to pregnant patients and whether state abortion bans have influenced how they treat those patients. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, sent inquiries to nine hospitals ahead of a hearing Tuesday looking at whether abortion bans have prevented or delayed pregnant women from getting help during their miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies or other medical emergencies. He is part of a Democratic effort to focus the nation’s attention on the stories of women who have faced horrible realities since some states tightened a patchwork of abortion laws. Republicans on Tuesday assailed the hearing, denying that abortion laws have changed the emergency medical care women in the U.S. receive.