Mother Jones
Two abortion providers sued a Dallas hospital on Thursday, after the hospital revoked their admitting privileges. Because Texas law now requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, the revocation would mean that these doctors could no longer legally perform abortions. In a letter to the doctors, Chuck Schuetz, CEO of University General Hospital–Dallas, said they were disrupting the hospital’s “business and the reputation” by providing abortions at their own facilities miles away. The lawsuit filed by the doctors, Lamar Robinson and Jasbir Ahluwalia, contends that the hospital discriminated against them because they perform abortions.
Last month, anti-abortion rights activists announced plans to hold a demonstration outside the hospital to protest its association with Robinson. But on March 31, the day before the protest was to take place, Schuetz canceled the doctors’ admitting privileges. “Your practice of voluntary interruption of pregnancies…creates significant exposure and damages to UGHD’s reputation within the community,” Schuetz wrote to Robinson and and Ahluwalia. In the letter, Schuetz characterized providing abortions as “disruptive behavior.” He claimed that the hospital was not equipped to treat complications related to abortion and that the doctors were increasing “the probability of malpractice.” Robinson and Ahluwalia allege that Schuetz yielded to pressure from anti-abortion rights activists, promising them the hospital would be “pro-life” and not associate with abortion doctors.
Original source:
Lawsuit: Texas Hospital Caved to Anti-Abortion Activists’ Demands
