A North Texas man has spoken out about his wife’s already-devastating miscarriage that turned into a medical nightmare — leaving her unconscious and bleeding — which he attributes to Texas’ strict abortion ban.
Radio host Ryan Hamilton and his wife, who asked not to be named by the media, were expecting their second child when, last month, she began experiencing severe pain and bleeding at 13 weeks. After a trip to Surepoint Emergency Center outside of Fort Worth, the couple learned it was a miscarriage and the fetus no longer had a heartbeat.
“Unfortunately for people like us, because of the current laws in the state of Texas, that was only the beginning of this nightmare,” Hamilton wrote on social media.
Their requests for a surgical procedure were denied. Hamilton and his wife were then sent home with misoprostol, a drug often prescribed after a miscarriage to help expel the fetal tissue and avoid a potentially life-threatening infection. Hamilton said doctors told the couple the medication may need to be taken multiple times to work.
After “a long, painful night of the equivalent of early labor,” the couple returned to Surepoint Emergency Center. A different doctor refused to prescribe more misoprostol, citing “the current stance.” Hamilton said he took this to mean Texas’ near-total abortion ban, whose exception clause requires a medical emergency threatening a mother’s life or major bodily function.
“(My wife) told the doctor, ‘Get this dead baby out of me,’” Hamilton told the Dallas Morning News. “And they asked her to leave.”
The couple went to a different hospital, where the visit took about four hours. Hamilton said doctors kept asking the same questions over and over and seemed hesitant to provide care.
“It’s becoming clear that they’re (sic) primary concern is not my wife’s health,” Hamilton wrote on social media. “Instead, they seem to be worried about the legalities involved.”
Doctors once again told Hamilton the situation wasn’t enough of an emergency for a surgical procedure and instead sent the couple home with more medication. The pair was told they would not be able to get another dose if this one did not work.
Shortly after returning home, Hamilton found his wife unconscious in the bathroom and covered in blood.
“Having to pick my wife’s cold, limp body off of that bathroom floor, not sure if I was about to lose her, is something I will never forget,” Hamilton said.
He rushed his wife to a third hospital, where doctors confirmed the fetal tissue had been expelled. Hamilton’s wife was given fluids and eventually stabilized.
“I want people to know that this really happens,” Hamilton told CBS News. “My fear is that stories like ours will continue to get told and not believed. Everything in her life right now that she’s having to do to get better is not just a reminder of the baby that we lost, it’s a reminder of what they put her through, and she has to do it every day.”
Treatment for miscarriages, which means the fetus is no longer in the uterus or no longer has cardiac activity, is still legal under Texas law. The couple is not pursuing legal action against any of the involved physicians, Hamilton said.
Hamilton did not respond to requests for comment from LoneStarLive.com, but first shared the story May 20 on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. As of June 5, his post has over 15 million views. Interviews with CBS News and the Dallas Morning News were published June 4.
The incident occurred two weeks before the Texas Supreme Court ruled against a group of women who sued the state because they struggled to get medical care for pregnancy complications, including some life-threatening cases. The Texas Medical Board is currently developing clarifications of the law’s medical exceptions, but doctors and patients are asking for more to be done.