Page 1 of 3
Mylissa Farmer v. Freeman Hospital West
Statement of Facts
In August 2022, Freeman Hospital West engaged in sex discrimination against Mylissa
Farmer in violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination
(including pregnancy) in public accommodations, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 213.065. The Hospital
refused to provide her with the emergency care she needed as a pregnant woman. Freeman
Hospital West is a teaching hospital and Level II Trauma Center in Joplin, Missouri that provides
24/7 emergency care and is open to the public.
Ms. Farmer requests that the Missouri Commission on Human Rights investigate
Freeman Hospital West’s sex discrimination and award her all relief available by law, including
but not limited to policy change, monetary relief, and anything else the Commission deems just
and proper.
Ms. Farmer was almost 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke around 6:30 a.m. on
August 2, 2022. Her obstetrician, Dr. Jana Allison, an employee of Freeman Hospital System,
instructed her to immediately go to the emergency department, which she did. Upon arrival at the
Freeman Hospital West emergency department, Ms. Farmer was taken directly to the labor and
delivery unit. Dr. Allison, who was on call at Freeman Hospital West that morning, and her
colleague, Dr. Shayna Conner from the maternal and fetal medicine department, determined that
Ms. Farmer had experienced previable preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), that
Ms. Farmer had lost all amniotic fluid, that her cervix was dilated, and that her vaginal bleeding
was consistent with “inevitable” miscarriage. The doctors further determined that without
immediate medical intervention, Ms. Farmer was at “risk of maternal thrombosis given her
history of DVT, infection/sepsis, severe blood loss, hysterotomy, hysterectomy, and even
mortality.”
Rather than provide Ms. Farmer with treatment that would meet the appropriate standard
of care—either induction or surgical intervention as recommended by her doctors—Freeman
Hospital West’s legal department refused to allow its doctors to intervene.
The Freeman Hospital West legal department cited the Missouri abortion ban as the basis
for their decision. In doing so, they ignored their obligations under the Missouri Human Rights
Act, which required Freeman Hospital West to provide emergency medical care to Ms. Farmer
without discriminating against her based on her sex (pregnancy). (This also violated federal laws
including the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. § 1395dd, which
Page 2 of 3
requires hospitals to provide stabilizing medical treatment to all patients who present with
emergency medical conditions.)
The doctors at Freeman Hospital West were clear that the hospital’s refusal to provide
Ms. Farmer care threatened her life. They explained to Ms. Farmer that she had two options: she
could stay at the hospital to receive IV antibiotics while waiting for her labor to begin on its own
or until her condition worsened—or she could leave. Dr. Conner made clear that “[a]waiting a
medical emergency” as narrowly defined under Missouri law “may put [Ms. Farmer] at further
risk for maternal mortality, hysterotomy, hysterectomy.” They explained that her vital signs
could become unstable, she could develop a severe infection such as sepsis or chorioamnionitis,
she could develop blood clotting including acute maternal thrombosis or disseminated
intravascular coagulation, or she could hemorrhage. Dr. Allison orally instructed Ms. Farmer to
go to an emergency department out of state. Given these substantial, immediate risks to her
health and life, Ms. Farmer ultimately drove to Kansas, where she was also denied the necessary
care.
Desperate to save her own life, Ms. Farmer returned to Freeman Hospital West a second
time on August 3, 2022, where once again she was not provided with the emergency medical
intervention she needed. The labor and delivery department initially tried to send her home
without providing any care before ultimately acceding to Dr. Allison’s instructions to monitor
her. Ms. Farmer was again terrified during this second visit to Freeman Hospital West, and her
pain had increased severely. The hospital gave her Tylenol and medication for anxiety. Feeling
pressure from the staff to leave, Ms. Farmer departed from Freeman Hospital and went home
until she received news that a clinic in Illinois would help her.
Ms. Farmer did not get the care she needed until August 5, 2022. She has suffered
immense physical, mental, emotional, and financial harm as a result of Freeman Hospital West’s
discriminatory refusal to treat her during a time of fear, crisis, and grief.
Freeman Hospital West’s denial of care constituted unlawful discrimination on the basis
of sex (pregnancy) in a place of public accommodation in violation of the Missouri Human
Rights Act. Indeed, upon information and belief, Freeman Hospital West has a facially
discriminatory policy of refusing to provide the full spectrum of emergency care necessary to
treat pregnant patients experiencing obstetric emergencies. Other doctors who visited Ms.
Farmer on the night of August 3 expressed frustration to her about their inability to help her or
other women like her. They explained to Ms. Farmer that she was not the first woman in similar
circumstances who they turned away and that they feared women like her “would die” as a
result.
Freeman Hospital West typically treats all who present with emergency medical
conditions when such treatment is within their competency, as required by federal law. The
hospital has both the competency and resources necessary to provide pregnant patients the full
spectrum of emergency obstetric care they may need. Thus, Freeman Hospital West had the
Page 3 of 3
competency and resources to provide Ms. Farmer with medically appropriate emergency
treatment. Yet the hospital denied Ms. Farmer that care based on her sex while she was
experiencing an emergency related to her pregnancy. This constitutes unlawful sex
discrimination in violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act. The state abortion ban does not
relieve the hospital of its obligation under the Missouri Human Rights Act to provide full access
to its services regardless of sex (including pregnancy).
Ms. Farmer requests that the Missouri Commission on Human Rights investigate
Freeman Hospital West’s discriminatory conduct and award her all relief available by law.
Dated: December 19, 2022 ____/s_____________
Michelle Banker*
National Women’s Law Center
11 Dupont Cir. NW, Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 588-7602
*pro hac vice pending
