A woman in Massachusetts is suing a so called pregnancy crisis center for
failing to identify and treat an ectopic pregnancy that later
landed her in the hospital for emergency surgery.
We'll dive deeper into what else these deceptive clinics are and
how they're spreading across the country.
But first, the details of this case are worth talking about.
So, the woman, known as Jane Doe,
filed a class action lawsuit on Thursday in the Worcester Superior Court
alleging that Clearway Clinic didn't follow standard medical care.
The suit also claims that Clearway engages in deceptive practices to lure in
people seeking the full range of pregnancy options when its actual
purpose is just to dissuade them from getting abortions.
Now, according to the lawsuit, the woman believed she was pregnant, and
she wanted to get an ultrasound just to confirm her suspicion.
So she did an online search of ultrasound providers and found Clearway's website.
Which entices people to schedule an ultrasound with the promise of being
seen at a state licensed medical clinic by board certified doctors and
nurses who will diagnose the pregnancy's viability.
Now, thinking that this was a legitimate medical facility that she could trust,
the woman booked an appointment through the website, was contacted
right away by Clearway, and went in for an appointment later that same day.
Now, a nurse at Clearway conducted limited ultrasounds and
diagnosed the pregnancy as viable and in utero.
The woman was not seen by a Clearway physician, despite being given paperwork
upon discharge that her care was provided by a medical doctor.
And we've already run into a major red flag here.
Nurses are not licensed to read ultrasounds or
diagnose pregnancies in the state of Massachusetts.
And it turns out that the pregnancy was not, in fact, in her uterus,
but rather in her Fallopian tube, what's known as an ectopic pregnancy.
According to medical professionals, an ectopic pregnancy can't proceed normally,
for one, because the fertilized egg can't survive.
If the fertilized egg implants in the Fallopian tube,
it cannot move or be moved to the uterus.
It always requires treatment, and
that treatment is termination of the pregnancy, abortion.
Beyond the fact that these pregnancies aren't viable,
they're also extremely dangerous to the mother if they are not treated.
Ectopic pregnancies can become life-threatening,
especially if your fallopian tube ruptures.
It can cause severe bleeding, infection, and sometimes death,
this is a medical emergency.
Healthcare providers must treat ectopic pregnancies quickly.
But since the crisis center failed to inform the woman that her pregnancy
was an ectopic pregnancy, it was allowed to keep developing.
In November of 2022, the month after Ms. Doe visited Clearway,
she experienced sharp and shooting pain in her side,
causing her to be lightheaded and weak so much so that she was unable
to call 911 for assistance and required her husband to do so.
She was rushed to the emergency department at a nearby hospital,
where she was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy and
internal hemorrhage caused by the pregnancy's rupture.
Because the ectopic pregnancy had ruptured, the medical staff were unable
to assess Ms. Doe for less invasive treatment of the ectopic pregnancy,
causing her to undergo invasive emergency surgery to stop the hemorrhaging,
which included the removal of one of her fallopian tubes.
Just absolutely brutal, insane.
Now, her complaint alleges that Clearway did not adhere to the standard of medical
care, which would have led them to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy properly.
And because of their failure, she could have died from internal bleeding.
Now, Clearway represents itself to the public as a legitimate clinic
providing quality care, but
its true goal is just to dissuade patients from terminating their pregnancies.
On their website, there's a paragraph that reads as follows,
we know you may wanna get out of this situation as fast as possible, but
this is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
It's not a decision to be made too quickly.
At Clearway clinic, we do not provide a refer for abortions, but
we will provide the information you need to make a fully informed choice.
Now, they list questions for women considering abortions, like the following.
Are you being pressured into having an abortion?
This is called reproductive coercion.
What do you know about emotional complications associated with
the abortion procedure?
Let's just pause for a second.
What do they know about the emotional consequences of being
denied quality care, in this case?
Or being denied the ability to make decisions about your own body
in red states where abortion has been effectively banned?
The website has other questions like,
have you received help from pain caused by a previous abortion?
What do you know about fetal development?
Now, all of these questions are framed in a way to make the woman feel guilty if
she's considering an abortion or even question whether or
not she'll be mentally stable after having an abortion.
Ironically, they also ask on the website,
have there been any lawsuits filed against the doctor or the clinic?
Interesting.
Now, Clearway also provides something called abortion pill reversal for
women who regret getting a medication abortion.
They claim to have saved hundreds of babies with this treatment, but
the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say,
it's not based on science and do not meet clinical standards.
So this woman who filed the lawsuit was forced to undergo a traumatic and
completely avoidable emergency surgery to save her life because she was
deceived by a clinic that practices debunked science and has a clear agenda.
And unfortunately, these faux clinics are gaining in numbers.
The Massachusetts based group Reproductive Equity Now said antiabortion
centers outnumbered real abortion clinics in the state three to one.
Unfortunately, that figure is about the same nationally, but
the ratio is even higher in Republican controlled states.
And despite pushing a clear agenda, crisis pregnancy centers,
also known as CPCs, receive millions of dollars in taxpayer money every year,
so you're likely funding them.
Between 2010 and 2022, at least 13 states have funneled roughly $495 million
to these pregnancy crisis centers that try to steer women away from having abortions.
Texas leads the pack, where $204 million in taxpayer money has
been handed over to these clinics since 2010.
The good news in the fight for reproductive rights is that all
the antiabortion messaging coming from Republicans looks to be backfiring,
even among people in their own right wing base.
According to recent polling, support for
abortion rights is higher than it's been in decades.
Well over three-fourths of Democrats are in favor of first trimester
abortions when the vast majority of abortions happen.
Perhaps more surprising to some, half of self-identified conservatives
now think abortion should be legal in the first trimester, up from just 39% in 2018.
And support for legal abortion care has generally increased among
independents since the year 2000.
Plus, a poll conducted in late March and early April by the Pew Research Center
found that 62% of Americans, including 39% of Republicans,
think states are making it too hard, rather than too easy to get an abortion.
In Florida, specifically where Ron DeSantis passed a six-week abortion ban,
voters in both parties say they wanna protect reproductive rights.
A University of North Florida poll in March found 75% of the respondents
said that they either somewhat or strongly opposed the six-week ban.
That included 61% of Republicans.
Look, this is anecdotal evidence, and you should always take anecdotal
evidence with a grain of salt, but it does bolster that study or that poll.
I was just recently in Florida, and the time I was in Florida,
prior to that, everyone I spoke to was enamored with Ron DeSantis.
All of a sudden, not so much, after the six-week abortion ban, a lot of the women,
conservative women, Republican women that I spoke to there soured on him.
All of a sudden, they weren't in favor of him.
So I do think that rolling back reproductive rights played a huge role in
how poorly Republicans performed in the midterm elections.
I'm curious to see if that is enough to help Democrats in
the next presidential election.
So Republican candidates like Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence should maybe think
twice before they keep boasting about just how antiabort they are.
And spouting all the ways they already have and plan to continue preventing
women from accessing them cuz it ain't plain as well as they think it is.
People like their freedom, people like to make decisions about their own bodies.