Hospitals cited for breaking federal law by denying emergency abortion.

Two hospitals in Missouri and Kansas violated federal law by refusing to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor, according to a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government. The investigation, launched after a complaint by the National Women's Law Center, found that the hospitals put the woman's life in jeopardy. The federal agency warned hospitals around the country to reconcile state laws that ban or restrict abortion with the federal mandate for doctors to provide abortions when a woman's health is at risk. The federal law, which requires doctors to treat patients in emergency situations, trumps state laws.