Oklahoma woman with deadly pregnancy refused abortion amid ban

An Oklahoma woman with a fatal pregnancy complication claims she was told she could not be treated until her condition was critical due to the state’s abortion ban.

Stay-at-home mom of three Jaci Statton, 25, was diagnosed with a cancerous molar pregnancy while expecting her fourth child, meaning the embryo had too many chromosomes and the fetus couldn’t survive. In Mrs. Stratton’s case, the tissue was also cancerous.

But the state has banned all abortions unless it’s to save the pregnant woman’s life, meaning multiple different hospitals said they couldn’t treat her unless she “collapsed in front of us or your blood pressure is so high.” becomes that you are about to have an abortion’. heart attack’.

Molar pregnancies require surgery to remove the molar tissue, which can be done with an emergency dilation and curettage abortion (D&C). But Mrs. Statton and her husband were forced to drive three hours to a Kansas abortion clinic that offers the procedure.

The longer the fetus stays in the mother, the greater the risk of internal bleeding, kidney and liver failure, and even stroke.

Mrs. Statton has three children: two seven-year-olds and one eight-year-old. She was pregnant with her fourth child when she had a cancerous molar pregnancy

Halfway through her pregnancy, in mid-March, Ms. Stratton endured an episode of sudden heavy bleeding and rushed straight to the emergency room.

Most molar pregnancies are benign, but 15 percent of cases, including Mrs Statton’s, may be cancerous.

About one in 1,000 pregnancies in the US are molar pregnancies, compared to one in 590 in the UK.

The treatment for the condition is an emergency dilatation and curettage abortion (D&C), which involves the removal of pregnancy tissue in the uterus.

She went to three hospitals in a week after learning of the condition, but they all told her they couldn’t touch her because of Oklahoma laws.

The latter told her to wait in the parking lot.

Mrs Stanton told NPR: ‘They were very sincere; they weren’t trying to be mean.

“They said, ‘The best thing we can tell you is to sit in the parking lot, and if anything else happens, we’ll be ready to help you. But we can’t touch you unless you crash in front of us or your blood.” pressure gets so high that you’re about to have a heart attack.

More than a dozen states have restricted access to abortions after the overthrow of Roe V Wade

Mrs. Statton with her husband, Dustin Statton. The couple was forced to drive three hours to Kansas to receive necessary treatment

Oklahoma has one of the strictest abortion laws. In May last year, GOP state governor Kevin Stitt banned terminations from the time of conception.

The only exceptions are to save the life of a pregnant woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest reported to the police.

While Oklahoma laws allow abortion to save the pregnant woman’s life, this can be difficult to define, and doctors face confusion and fear of prosecution when determining whether an abortion is legal in any case.

Despite doctors acknowledging that she was at risk of bleeding and even dying, the hospitals said they could not treat her.

It also allows them to remove an ectopic pregnancy, a potentially life-threatening emergency that occurs when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, often in a fallopian tube and early in pregnancy.

A study published Tuesday along with commentary in The Lancet found that hospitals in Oklahoma are finding it difficult to interpret the laws and enact policies that comply with them.

This puts women like Mrs Statton in dangerous situations.

Her doctors eventually recommended that she leave Oklahoma and travel to a state where abortion is legal.

Ms. Statton and her husband drove three hours to an abortion clinic in Kansas, where she had access to a D&C.

She now has to have another surgery to get rid of more cancerous tissue and may even need chemotherapy.

Ms Statton said it was mentally tough and said “something needs to be done” about Oklahoma’s abortion laws.