The radio host said he’s speaking out to let people know “this really happens” in the wake of Texas’ abortion ban
Texas radio host Ryan Hamilton says that after his wife had a miscarriage at 13 weeks — and there was no fetal heartbeat — she was denied proper medical treatment.
On May 16, she called him and “she said our baby has no heartbeat, and that’s all that she could really get out,” Hamilton told CBS Mornings on Tuesday.
She first visited an emergency center in North Texas, the outlet reported, where doctors confirmed the fetus didn’t have a heartbeat.
His wife was prescribed misoprostol — commonly called an “abortion drug” although it’s used for both miscarriages and abortions — to “finish the process of what had already started at home,” Hamilton told CBS.
“They don’t send you home with real instructions. They give you a few things to look out for, but — you would think that would come with a thick book of what to do. No,” Hamilton said.
“They used terminology with us like ‘terminate the pregnancy.’ Nobody uses the word abortion at this point.”
His wife was sent home but after two days, she hadn’t expelled the nonviable fetus. Since she had been told to return to the emergency center if she needed to repeat the medication, she went back.
However, this time, Hamilton says the doctor told them, “Due to the current stance, I cannot prescribe this medicine for you.”
Hamilton explained his frustration with the seemingly inconsistent medical practices. “There’s no explanation from them, so you just assume the stance of the State of Texas, because of the law,” he told CBS.
Texas currently has a ban on abortion that restricts all procedures after 6 weeks of pregnancy — before most women even know they’re pregnant.
Known as a “heartbeat ban,” the law is based on when the fetal heartbeat can first be detected, the earliest being six weeks into pregnancy.
Hamilton said, “All you’re thinking is, ‘Is she going to be okay? How do we make sure she’s okay?” he said of his wife. “What are we gonna to do? Leave the baby inside her so she can get an infection? Get sepsis that can kill her?
The family drove to another hospital — with their nine-month-old daughter in the car, telling her they were going on “an adventure” — where he said his wife was treated for four hours and doctors again confirmed that there was no fetal heartbeat.
Hamilton said he thinks doctors have “confusion on what they’re allowed to do. It feels like they’re scared.”
He said his wife was given a higher dose of medication, and sent home.
That’s where she called him from the bathroom, and Hamilton said found her on the floor, unconscious, with a trail of blood leading from the toilet.
“I picked her up, put her back on the toilet. I had to dress her, and my only goal in that moment was to get her to the emergency room.”
He said when they returned to the hospital, he was told she could have died.
“We were able to verify that the baby is no longer with her,” Hamilton said. “Then it’s just a matter of getting her to the point where she’s able to go home.”
He said she’s still bleeding, nearly a month after their last hospital visit.
As for why he’s speaking out, Hamilton said, “I want people to know that this really happens. My fear is that stories like ours will continue to get told and not believed. I can’t believe the number of people that have called me a liar and say this is political propaganda. This is about the health of my wife. Period.”
He continued: “Everything in her life right now that she’s having to do to get better, it’s not just a reminder of the baby that we lost.”
“It’s a reminder of what they put her through.”
