Missouri's health department is investigating whether a hospital violated federal rules in denying a woman an emergency abortion.
An agency spokeswoman confirmed the investigation of southern Missouri's Freeman Health System Monday. Joplin resident Mylissa Farmer says she went to the hospital in August when her water broke months early. Doctors told her they couldn't give her an abortion because her condition wasn’t considered a life-threatening at that moment.
But records show doctors also warned that waiting could risk her life. She later received an abortion in Illinois.
The hospital didn't immediately return an Associated Press request for comment Monday.
