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A 40-year-old Black woman has filed a federal complaint against two Texas hospitals, alleging both denied her treatment during a dangerous miscarriage due to the state's strict abortion ban.
Lynn Callaway, who lives in Austin, filed the complaint Monday (June 22) against St. David's Round Rock Medical Center and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, according to The Texas Tribune.
Callaway was about seven weeks pregnant in October 2025 when she began bleeding heavily and experiencing severe abdominal pain. Her OB-GYN's office told her over the phone that with her hormone levels "that high," they "could not" offer a D&C or medication to help terminate the pregnancy, and advised her to go to the emergency room if symptoms worsened, per the complaint.
At Baylor Scott & White, a physician confirmed there was no cardiac activity and that she was miscarrying, but according to the complaint, the doctor was dismissive and sent her home with instructions to expect cramping and take over-the-counter Tylenol.
Her symptoms worsened over the following days. She developed a fever and chills consistent with infection.
Callaway then went to St. David's Round Rock, where a doctor confirmed the infection but discharged her with antibiotics rather than treatment to complete the miscarriage, per the complaint.
Her OB-GYN ultimately offered her medication to terminate the pregnancy six days after her symptoms began.
The complaint alleges both hospitals violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a 40-year-old law requiring emergency rooms to stabilize any patient who walks in.
According to The Texas Tribune, Callaway's attorneys say EMTALA investigations are being delayed under the Trump administration, building on a 2022 lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that successfully blocked federal guidance stating EMTALA overrides the state's abortion ban.
The case comes despite new physician training materials Texas finalized in early 2026, explicitly clarifying that managing a miscarriage is not a reportable abortion under state law, and that misoprostol and mifepristone may legally be provided in such cases.
Molly Duane, Callaway's attorney with Amplify Legal, told The Texas Tribune that confusion among providers persists regardless.
"Pregnancy is complicated, and that's why abortion bans cannot and do not work, because once you ban one type of care, you effectively ban everything," Duane said.
St. David's said told PEOPLE in a statement that it is "addressing [the complaint] through their regulatory process," while Baylor Scott & White told the outlet it could not comment on specifics due to patient privacy, but that its medical decisions are "guided by the clinical judgment of our physicians and care teams."
Callaway has also filed complaints with the Texas Medical Board and Texas Board of Nursing.
Per The Texas Tribune, the medical board recently sanctioned three doctors for delaying miscarriage care in cases that resulted in two women's deaths.
Callaway was later diagnosed with PTSD. "It wasn't just grieving the loss of a pregnancy," she told PEOPLE, "but grieving a system you thought would protect you."
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