Two Texas women who were denied abortions due to life-threatening ectopic pregnancies have filed complaints with the Biden administration, demanding an investigation into the hospitals for violating federal law.

An ectopic pregnancy is a dangerous condition in which the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. There is no chance of a healthy pregnancy.

One of the complaints details how Kyleigh Thurman, a 25-year-old woman from Burnet, Texas, was turned away from Ascension Williamson Hospital in February even though her gynecologist had told the hospital that she likely had an ectopic pregnancy.

Days later, she returned bleeding and in severe pain, but was not treated until her gynecologist came to the hospital “to beg the medical staff” to terminate Thurman’s ectopic pregnancy.

However, the delay caused her ectopic pregnancy to rupture. Thurman nearly bled to death and had to undergo emergency surgery to have her fallopian tubes removed. Her ability to have children is now compromised.

According to the second lawsuit, Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz endured a similarly horrific ordeal at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital outside Dallas. When she was treated, her pregnancy was nearing termination. Norris-De La Cruz lost a fallopian tube and most of her right ovary.

An ectopic pregnancy is the most common cause of maternal mortality in the first trimester and accounts for up to 10% of all pregnancy-related deaths nationwide.

“Even though my life was clearly in danger, the hospital told me they could not help me. I lost half of my fertility and if I had to wait any longer, I most likely would have died,” Norris-De La Cruz said in a press release.

The two complaints filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services accuse the hospitals of violating the long-standing Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatments, including abortions, to patients in medical emergencies.

After the Biden administration issued policies designed to protect hospitals that provide emergency abortions under the Emtala law, Texas state officials sued the federal Department of Health and Human Services and won a bid to block those policies in 2022. (Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit challenging whether the Emtala law overrode Idaho’s abortion ban and sent the case back to a lower court. A conservative appeals court has since upheld the blocking of the treatment in Texas.)

While Texas has one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation, the treatment of an ectopic pregnancy – which can lead to serious complications and even death – is explicitly permitted under state law and therefore is not considered an “abortion.” This was reaffirmed by a law passed during the state’s last legislative session.

The lawsuit argues that despite this exception, the harsh penalties doctors face for violating the state’s abortion ban – including fines of $100,000 and up to life in prison – create fear among doctors and reduce their willingness to provide treatment.

“How many more people have to almost die before something changes? These women are proof that exceptions to abortion bans, even when they are extremely clear, do not make them any less dangerous,” said Beth Brinkmann, senior director of U.S. litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “It is impossible to have the patient’s best interests in mind when facing a life sentence. The authorities in Texas have put doctors in an impossible position.”

The complaint asks the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to investigate the hospitals and compel Emtala to hold them accountable, including imposing possible penalties.

More than 100 pregnant women in medically complex situations who sought help in emergency rooms since 2022 have been turned away or “negligibly treated,” a recent Associated Press analysis found.