‘I’m being refused.’ A woman’s viral video at Conway Medical Center isn’t the full story | Opinion

My mama was in a near-vegetative state for three years before her heart stopped beating. It was the toughest period of our family’s existence. The one saving grace was that neither Gov. Henry McMaster nor any South Carolina politician had any say in the decisions we made about her care, a blessing politicians have taken away from a growing number of women.

The sins of our heartless politicians were recently visited upon Conway Medical Center and a patient in its care. A pregnant woman took to social media claiming the hospital refused to perform an abortion even though she had an ectopic pregnancy, which cannot result in a baby because the egg implanted outside of the uterus. It can lead to the death of the mother or severe medical complications if it isn’t treated properly.

“I need an abortion for an ectopic pregnancy, and I’m being refused,” she said.

Her video went viral.

South Carolina’s draconian anti-abortion law includes exceptions for the health of the mother. But since the uprooting of longstanding Roe v. Wade protections by the Supreme Court in 2022, we’ve seen time and again that medical professionals have begun hesitating to provide needed care in a timely fashion, fearing they might inadvertently run afoul of the law.

That fear makes sense, given that supposedly “pro-life” politicians are trying to make already barbaric anti-abortion laws worse nationwide, with the possible punishment of long prison sentences for women and their doctors, or even the death penalty for women who get abortions.

We don’t know what happened in this case. We have only the view of the woman who claims she was denied care. She later posted a video, saying she got the needed surgery somewhere else but lost her fallopian tube and the pregnancy.

The hospital is limited in what it can make public because of privacy laws but released a statement stating that “it will always provide stabilizing medical care to all patients presenting with any emergency medical condition” and that it is “in compliance with all state and federal laws.” It said it has “received numerous threats” and “increased security measures out of an abundance of caution.”

The statement didn’t satisfy a social media mob accusing the hospital of ghastly things and warning others never to go there.

Full disclosure: My daughter was born at Conway Medical Center. We received great care. I’ve had friends and associates who have worked there as nurses and doctors. That’s why I wish we could hear the full story.

Truthfully, I wish we weren’t privy to any part of the story. This should have been between the patient, her family and her doctors. But in this post-Roe era, such sensitive medical decisions are in essence public because legislators decided to get between women and their doctors. Those politicians have raised the stakes, substituting their judgment for that of medical professionals.

That’s true even with abortion “exceptions” that can in no real sense alleviate the fear, confusion and distrust they’ve caused. That’s why these laws are bad for doctors, nurses, patients and the public.

That’s why my family was lucky. Mama, Elizabeth Bailey McDaniel, birthed 11 strong-willed children, and raised a few others. We all loved and wanted the best for her.

But we often disagreed about what that meant.

We disagreed about whether to sign do not resuscitate orders, whether to instruct doctors to do whatever was necessary to keep her alive, and whether to “unplug” machines helping her breathe and her heart beat. Even doctors and nurses didn’t always agree about the correct path to take. Sensitive medical situations are complex, particularly because they don’t only involve medical choices.

What’s right for one patient and that patient’s family might be wrong for another, and no law can account for everything. That’s why it’s best to leave such decisions to loved ones in consultation with highly trained medical professionals, and faith leaders if a family wants them involved.

But anti-abortion laws disrupt that reality. They are why we are likely to see even more women either not receive the care they need, or wonder whether they did.

The results can be — and have been — deadly.

We may never know the full facts of this incident at Conway Medical Center. But we do know that the politicians who think they know what’s best for women have increased distrust of a system where trust is essential.

This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM.