Once, when I was the obstetrician-gynecologist assigned to cover Christmas at my hospital, I was called to the emergency department for a patient undergoing a first-trimester pregnancy loss. Early pregnancy losses are common and generally uncomplicated. But this patient showed signs of possible infection.

This can be life-threatening. Thankfully, the treatment is a simple one — a dilation and curettage procedure, or D and C, in which a doctor dilates the cervix and empties out the uterus. This basic procedure is a staple of OB-GYN care. It’s the first surgery most of us learn.

I remember my patient shook with discomfort when I pressed on her belly. I remember her eyelids were pale, a sign she had lost too much blood. I remember our team starting an IV, ordering a dose of medicine to help her uterus contract and readying an operating room.

But I don’t remember whether this patient came to us with a spontaneous miscarriage or whether she had undergone a pregnancy termination. It really doesn’t matter. The care needed is identical in both cases. And the medical systems I work in were designed to provide that care every day and every night, even on Christmas.

This seems simple to me. But around the country, it’s not that simple any longer. Patients presenting with complications related to pregnancy terminations are now being excluded from the care that the medical establishment is supposed to provide.

In Georgia, Amber Thurman died in a hospital after doctors waited more than 20 hours to perform a D and C. She had taken abortion pills, but her body failed to expel all of the tissue from the pregnancy. Candi Miller died at home days after taking abortion pills she obtained online and suffering similar complications; an investigating committee found that her death was in part attributable to the fear that prevented her from seeking care.