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CBS News: Texas man details wife's miscarriage amid state's abortion laws

A Texas father spoke to CBS News and told them he and his wife are living a nightmare because she had a miscarriage after multiple attempts to get medical treatment.

DALLAS — Some families are facing medical challenges due to Texas' abortion law and a CBS News report highlighted one family's struggles.

A Texas father spoke to CBS News and told them he and his wife are living a nightmare because she had a miscarriage after multiple attempts to get medical treatment.

READ THE FULL CBS NEWS REPORT HERE

Ryan Hamilton, a 43-year-old radio host, got a lot of attention on social media after posting about his wife's miscarriage.

CBS News didn't name his wife in the report and she's still not ready to talk about what happened.

"When you find out your baby doesn't have a heartbeat, that's only the beginning," Hamilton told CBS News. "So, the conversation becomes, what do we do?"

On May 16, Hamilton's wife was more than three months pregnant with their second child when she found out the child didn't have a heartbeat.

According to medical records obtained by CBS News, Hamilton's wife was treated at a North Texas emergency room and that's where doctors told her the baby didn't have a heartbeat.

"We were told she could take a medication that would start the process to finish ... to finish what had already started at home," Hamilton told CBS News.

The doctors prescribed her misoprostol -- a labor-inducing drug that's used for miscarriages and abortions. She was told to go home and take the medicine and come back if it didn't work in two days.

Hamilton told CBS News that it didn't work, but when they went back, the doctor said they couldn't prescribe the medicine.

Hamilton and his wife were confused and started looking into other options and went to another hospital only to be denied treatment again.

"You wanna panic, but you can't," Hamilton told CBS News. "At this point, you're just thinking, 'Get my wife safe.'"

He told CBS News that while waiting for answers at the second hospital, he believed the doctors were confused about what they were allowed to do.

"That's what it feels like. They feel scared. The doctors feel scared," he said in the interview.

Texas law bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected -- except during medical emergencies. The problem? Hamilton said the doctors told them it wasn't a big enough emergency to perform the procedure.

The procedure they were denied is called "dilation and curettage" but the law doesn't require there to be a medical emergency for it to be performed if there's no cardiac activity.

In a statement provided by the hospital to CBS News, they said they follow Texas and federal laws in accordance with national standards of care.

Hamilton and his wife still didn't know what to do. Doctors gave her stronger medication and sent her home. In the following days, Hamilton told CBS News that he found his wife unconscious on the bathroom floor with blood around her. He said he rushed her to the hospital, where they confirmed the medicine worked.

Hamilton told CBS News that they aren't planning on suing any of the hospitals involved but he wants his story to help others in the future. He said his wife is focused on healing and therapy.

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