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A HOSPITAL in New York refused to give genetic test results to a couple expecting a child simply because they live in Florida; which the institution regards as an “anti-abortion” state.
For several months, Weill Cornell Hospital in Lower Manhattan avoided giving the results of a genetic test to a couple who paid $3,000 for them.
The couple, who requested anonymity, formerly lived in New York and moved to Florida following the outbreak of COVID-19. Because insurance did not cover the genetic testing they needed for the pregnancy, they decided to have it done in New York.
“We decided to take it in New York because our experience with the hospital had been good,” the couple told El American.
Baptist Hospital in Coral Gables, Miami, asked the couple for the tests. They gave Baptist everything that Weill Cornell in New York had given them. The couple’s doctor in Miami realized that the genetic results were missing. Therefore, the doctor decided to contact Weill Cornell.
After multiple requests, Weill Cornell Hospital informed doctors in Miami that they would not provide the results on the grounds that Florida is “an anti-abortion state.”
“It’s the first time they’ve responded to us like this. They called us saying that they can’t give us that because Florida is a state that doesn’t support abortion. I couldn’t believe it and put the call on speaker with everyone I was with. We were all in shock. It is the most unusual thing that has ever happened to us here,” the doctor said.
The frustrated wife called Weill Cornell and was told they were not authorized to give her the results.
“These are my results. They’re not theirs, I told them,” the wife told El American.
“They told me that it would be illegal to give me the results. I told them they are committing the illegality by denying me those results, for which we paid. They told me they would put me in touch with the Hospital’s legal department.”
“I told them that I am not pro-abortion. That I have nothing to do with politics. I don’t even have a political affiliation. I have nothing to do with this, and they still denied me the results,” she added.
El American contacted Weill Cornell Hospital in Downtown Manhattan. They responded that they do not have and cannot provide information on the matter. However, El American left the request about the case, and they promised to get in touch eventually.
El American also reached out with an email to the hospital’s press office. El American is awaiting a response.
Florida does not prohibit abortion but requires an appointment before the procedure. The idea that the state of Florida is anti-abortion may be because there is a Republican majority in the state, reflected in the polls and in recent elections.
