The primary treatment for preeclampsia is either to deliver the baby or manage the condition until the best time to deliver the baby.

... Severe preeclampsia requires that you be in the hospital to monitor your blood pressure and possible complications. Your health care provider will frequently monitor the growth and well-being of your baby.

The treatment for severe preeclampsia, which points to a problem with the placenta, is delivery — or, at 20 weeks, an abortion.

The lawsuit pointed out that her discharge paperwork from Dec. 27 states that delivery, meaning an abortion at that stage, may be the best treatment for preeclampsia.

For months, Ms. Walker had been asking for termination of her pregnancy — even though this was a wanted pregnancy — because she did not think she would survive the pregnancy. Tragically, she was right. An abortion at any point during her pregnancy would have saved her life.

“It is subpar care. and unless she signed out of the hospital against medical advice and went home because she refused to stay in the hospital, which I don't think happened because it's nowhere in the story… that's the only reason I could think of that someone would get discharged and on blood pressure medication after being diagnosed… and I believe, if I remember right, she died when she was about 20 weeks. So, she was only about 20 weeks pregnant when this happened. So you've got previability pre-eclampsia. By definition, that makes it severe. 

And again, there's so many questions. Was she on daily aspirin, which she should have been with that history?... But if she wasn't, these are all missteps of malpractice all along the way here. And as soon as she's diagnosed with preeclampsia at 20 weeks, there's a strong case to be made for a a delivery at that point….

But at the very least, like let's say the conversation had gone that she wasn't ready to deliver yet. She wanted to try to medically optimize things. Still, she doesn't leave the hospital. She stays in the hospital. So… that right there…[is] not at all due to the abortion law. It is complete medical malpractice.”

University Health failed to appropriately screen and provide stabilizing treatment for Ms. Walker’s emergency medical conditions, resulting in her death.

... Indeed, each time that University Health discharged Ms. Walker without providing her with the stabilizing care necessary to treat her emergency medical condition—both on November 4, 2024 as well as December 27, 2024—it violated EMTALA in three independent ways.

First, University Health improperly triaged Ms. Walker, failed to ensure that she was seen by the on-call OB/GYN attending, and failed to properly screen for preeclampsia and pulmonary edema, each a violation of EMTALA’s medical screening requirements.

Second, hospital staff knew that failing to treat Ms. Walker’s preeclampsia could reasonably be expected to result in serious jeopardy to her health, including death. University Health staff documented those risks in her chart, yet still never offered Ms. Walker the appropriate—and only—stabilizing treatment for her emergency medical condition: an abortion.

Third, University Health discharged Ms. Walker without providing the stabilizing care she urgently required, causing her death.

(1) “Abortion” means the act of using or prescribing an instrument, a drug, a medicine, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to cause the death of an unborn child of a woman known to be pregnant.  The term does not include birth control devices or oral contraceptives.  An act is not an abortion if the act is done with the intent to:

(A) save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child;

(B) remove a dead, unborn child whose death was caused by spontaneous abortion;  or

(C) remove an ectopic pregnancy.

Sec. 171.205.  EXCEPTION FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCY; RECORDS.   (a)  Sections 171.203 and 171.204 do not apply if a physician  believes a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with  this subchapter.        
(b)  A physician who performs or induces an abortion under  circumstances described by Subsection (a) shall make written  notations in the pregnant woman's medical record of:              
(1)  the physician's belief that a medical emergency  necessitated the abortion; and              
(2)  the medical condition of the pregnant woman that  prevented compliance with this subchapter.

It is an exception to the application of this law... in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment, the pregnant female on whom the abortion is performed, induced, or attempted has a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that places the female at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless the abortion is performed...

The primary treatment for preeclampsia is either to deliver the baby or manage the condition until the best time to deliver the baby.

... Severe preeclampsia requires that you be in the hospital to monitor your blood pressure and possible complications. Your health care provider will frequently monitor the growth and well-being of your baby.

The treatment for severe preeclampsia, which points to a problem with the placenta, is delivery — or, at 20 weeks, an abortion.

The lawsuit pointed out that her discharge paperwork from Dec. 27 states that delivery, meaning an abortion at that stage, may be the best treatment for preeclampsia.

For months, Ms. Walker had been asking for termination of her pregnancy — even though this was a wanted pregnancy — because she did not think she would survive the pregnancy. Tragically, she was right. An abortion at any point during her pregnancy would have saved her life.

“It is subpar care. and unless she signed out of the hospital against medical advice and went home because she refused to stay in the hospital, which I don't think happened because it's nowhere in the story… that's the only reason I could think of that someone would get discharged and on blood pressure medication after being diagnosed… and I believe, if I remember right, she died when she was about 20 weeks. So, she was only about 20 weeks pregnant when this happened. So you've got previability pre-eclampsia. By definition, that makes it severe. 

And again, there's so many questions. Was she on daily aspirin, which she should have been with that history?... But if she wasn't, these are all missteps of malpractice all along the way here. And as soon as she's diagnosed with preeclampsia at 20 weeks, there's a strong case to be made for a a delivery at that point….

But at the very least, like let's say the conversation had gone that she wasn't ready to deliver yet. She wanted to try to medically optimize things. Still, she doesn't leave the hospital. She stays in the hospital. So… that right there…[is] not at all due to the abortion law. It is complete medical malpractice.”

University Health failed to appropriately screen and provide stabilizing treatment for Ms. Walker’s emergency medical conditions, resulting in her death.

... Indeed, each time that University Health discharged Ms. Walker without providing her with the stabilizing care necessary to treat her emergency medical condition—both on November 4, 2024 as well as December 27, 2024—it violated EMTALA in three independent ways.

First, University Health improperly triaged Ms. Walker, failed to ensure that she was seen by the on-call OB/GYN attending, and failed to properly screen for preeclampsia and pulmonary edema, each a violation of EMTALA’s medical screening requirements.

Second, hospital staff knew that failing to treat Ms. Walker’s preeclampsia could reasonably be expected to result in serious jeopardy to her health, including death. University Health staff documented those risks in her chart, yet still never offered Ms. Walker the appropriate—and only—stabilizing treatment for her emergency medical condition: an abortion.

Third, University Health discharged Ms. Walker without providing the stabilizing care she urgently required, causing her death.

(1) “Abortion” means the act of using or prescribing an instrument, a drug, a medicine, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to cause the death of an unborn child of a woman known to be pregnant.  The term does not include birth control devices or oral contraceptives.  An act is not an abortion if the act is done with the intent to:

(A) save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child;

(B) remove a dead, unborn child whose death was caused by spontaneous abortion;  or

(C) remove an ectopic pregnancy.

Sec. 171.205.  EXCEPTION FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCY; RECORDS.   (a)  Sections 171.203 and 171.204 do not apply if a physician  believes a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with  this subchapter.        
(b)  A physician who performs or induces an abortion under  circumstances described by Subsection (a) shall make written  notations in the pregnant woman's medical record of:              
(1)  the physician's belief that a medical emergency  necessitated the abortion; and              
(2)  the medical condition of the pregnant woman that  prevented compliance with this subchapter.

It is an exception to the application of this law... in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment, the pregnant female on whom the abortion is performed, induced, or attempted has a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that places the female at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless the abortion is performed...