Entertainment
Radio DJ found wife ‘limp and unconscious’ after doctors denied miscarriage treatment-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro
He’s furious.
Ryan Hamilton has opened about his wife’s horrific experience under the Texas abortion laws (Picture: CBS/Instagram)
Radio DJ Ryan Hamilton has opened up about a horrific experience his wife endured at the hands of a Texas hospital.
Ryan, 43, was expecting his second child with his wife, who wished to remain unnamed, when at 13 weeks they learnt their baby had no heartbeat.
They went to an emergency centre in Texas, where she was given misoprostol tablets, used to induce labour and terminate the pregnancy.
However, the medication didn’t work and after a ‘painful’ two days of the ‘equivalent of early labour’ the pair returned to get a second dose.
But they were met by a different doctor, who would not give them more medication, as he told them: ‘Considering the current stance. I’m not going to prescribe you this pill.’
According to Ryan, the medical professional could also be heard in the hallway saying: ‘I’m not giving her a pill so she can go home and have an abortion!’
By ‘the current stance’ Ryan took that to mean under the pro-life Texas abortion laws, which sent shockwaves through the US and beyond when they were introduced in 2021.
He found his wife’s limp, unconscious body on the floor after she was turned away from doctors (Picture: @theryanhamilton/Instagram)
The law bans abortions from six weeks into pregnancy, and gives any individual a right to sue doctors who perform one after this point – when many women don’t even realise they are pregnant.
Before then, the Supreme Court decision from Roe vs Wade in 1973 gave women the right to abortion until a foetus is able to survive outside the womb, usually between 22 and 24 weeks.
The legislation makes an exception in the case of a medical emergency, which requires written proof from a doctor, or pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
While Ryan’s wife didn’t require an abortion as their baby had no heartbeat, he thinks the confusion surrounding Texas abortion laws is what led to her shocking mistreatment.
This comes as the Texas Supreme Court rejected a challenge from 20 women who said they were denied medically necessary abortions under the current laws.
The women argued the ‘medical emergency’ exemption was too vague, and was resulting in life-threatening situations for women.
Doctors found to have broken the law face up to 99 years in prison, $100,000 (£78,269) in fines and the loss of their medical licence.
If left in too long, women experiencing an ‘incomplete miscarriage’ could suffer sepsis and even death.
‘No one should ever have to hear their wife say: “Get this dead baby out of me!”‘ Ryan said.
Realising this doctor wasn’t going to help his wife, they drove for an hour to another hospital, where they were met by a female doctor who they thought might be more sympathetic.
However, after hours of waiting around for a dilatation and curettage, or D&C – the procedure required to get the baby out – they decided the case wasn’t enough of an emergency to warrant one. They were sent home again with another stronger dose of the drug.
Ryan then discovered his wife’s ‘cold, limp’ body on the bathroom floor, as she’d passed out.
Having lost so much blood and fluid her body ‘gave out’ and she had to be rushed to hospital where she was eventually stabilised.
What at the Texas abortion laws?
In June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe vs Wade 1973 ruling which gave women the right to an abortion up until the foetus is able to survive outside the womb, which usually comes at around 22 to 24 weeks.
Texas now has a near-total abortion law in place. It prohibits doctors from performing an abortion once a foetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks. At this point, many women do not realise they are pregnant.
There is one exception: abortions can be performed in the case of a ‘medical emergency’. However, many have argued this is vague, and has left doctors scared to perform necessary life-saving abortions for women, incase of prosecution – which can see them imprisoned for life and face £78,000 fines.
Texas law allows abortion only when, in a doctor’s ‘reasonable medical judgement,’ the mother has ‘a life-threatening physical condition that places her at risk of death or serious physical impairment’.
Speaking on CBS Mornings, Ryan said he felt utter ‘fury’ at the disregard for his wife’s health.
‘You start thinking about the women who have to drive across state lines and as a husband you think, is that what you have to do?’ he said.
Writing in a post on social media about the horrific ordeal, Ryan said in full: ‘My heart is broken.
‘As friends & family know, my wife was pregnant with our 2nd child, & about to begin her 2nd trimester. A few days ago she had severe pains, & bleeding, and had to go to the emergency room. There, it was discovered that our baby no longer had a heartbeat.
‘Devastated doesn’t come close to what that feels like. Unfortunately for people like us, because of the current laws in the state of Texas, that was only the beginning of this nightmare. Jess (my wife) had an “incomplete miscarriage”, and what needed to happen, what was best for HER, and her health, was to terminate the pregnancy, and get the baby out.
‘The doctor gave her a medication that would move this process along, and sent her home. Where, apparently we would be handling it ourselves. We were told it might take a couple of attempts before it worked. I’ll let you decide how you feel about that.
The DJ is furious about the treatment of his wife (Picture: @theryanhamilton/Instagram)
‘After a long, painful night of the equivalent of early labour, the baby was still with her. So, we went back to the Emergency Center to get the 2nd dose. A new doctor was on call. He was an older man. You could hear him in the hallway as he said, “I’m not giving her a pill so she can go home and have an abortion!”. Being well aware that our baby no longer had a heartbeat.
‘Then, he came into the room to say, and I quote: “Considering the current stance. I’m not going to prescribe you this pill”. Then, just sent us on our way. The “CURRENT STANCE”?! Did he really just say that?! No one should ever have to hear their wife say: “Get this dead baby out of me!”.
‘Can you even imagine how that must feel? The pain, and the bleeding continued. So, we decided to go to another hospital, about an hour away. There was a female doctor on call there, and we thought we might have better luck.
‘I should probably mention, the procedure to get the baby out is called a D & C. It’s scary, & traumatising, but sometimes necessary in situations like ours. Especially in emergency circumstances.
‘So we get to the next hospital. They take Jess in, ask her a bunch of questions, do a new scan… confirm that the baby is still there, with no heartbeat, and then disappear… for hours. Only to come back in and keep asking the same questions over and over.
‘It’s becoming clear that their primary concern is NOT my wife’s health. Instead, they seem to be worried about the legalities involved. So, they decide it is not “enough of an emergency” to perform the D & C.
‘They do, however, prescribe another, stronger, final dose of the medication for us to try again… at home. So, we go home to try again. Another long day/night of early labour pains. Only to discover my wife UNCONSCIOUS in the bathroom.
‘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. She had to be rushed to the hospital. By this point she had lost so much blood, and bodily fluid, her body gave out. They were able to stabilise her, give her the fluids she needed, and we came back home yesterday afternoon.
‘We were also able to confirm that our baby was no longer with her. Now, not only do we have to live with the loss of our baby… we have to live with the nightmare of what we just experienced because of political and religious beliefs. MY WIFE’S HEALTH SHOULD HAVE COME FIRST. PERIOD!
‘God knows what mental and emotional damage this has done. If you consider yourself a staunch “pro-lifer” … 1) You’ve never been through what we just went through, and 2) You should take a long, hard look in the mirror and reevaluate your reasons for supporting such a cold, barbaric, ignorant point of view. It’s not that black & white, and it’s never going to be.
‘If you think your “Pray To End Abortion” sign in your yard is “Christian”, I suggest you revisit the teachings of Jesus and try again. If you support these laws that make abortion illegal, and result in people being put through what we just were, you should be ashamed of yourself.
‘I’ve never been so angry, or heartbroken… and the devastation I’m feeling must pale in comparison to what my poor wife is feeling.’
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