ProPublica: A Coast Guard Commander Miscarried. She Nearly Died After Being Denied Care. [View all]

[Dennis Donovan]

ProPublica - A Coast Guard Commander Miscarried. She Nearly Died After Being Denied Care.

U.S. service members have long faced strict limits on abortions, even when used to resolve miscarriages. Under federal law, the military will only pay for abortions in cases of rape, incest or to save the mother’s life.

by Erin Edwards for ProPublica and Robin Fields
Dec. 13, 5 a.m. EST


Coast Guard Cmdr. Elizabeth Nakagawa holds a sonogram with her husband. Credit:Rachel Bujalski for ProPublica

The night the EMTs carried Elizabeth Nakagawa from her home, bleeding and in pain, the tarp they’d wrapped her in reminded her of a body bag.

Nakagawa, 39, is a Coast Guard commander: stoic, methodical, an engineer by trade. But as they maneuvered her past her young daughters’ bedroom, down the narrow steps and into the ambulance, she felt a stab of fear. She might never see her girls again.

Then came a blast of anger. She’d been treated for a miscarriage before. She knew her life never should have been in danger.

Earlier that day, April 3, 2023, Nakagawa had been scheduled to have a surgical procedure called a D&C, or dilation and curettage, to remove fetal tissue after losing a very wanted pregnancy. But that morning, she was told the surgery had been canceled because Tricare, the military’s health insurance plan, refused to pay for it.

While her doctor appealed, Nakagawa waited. Then the cramps and bleeding began.

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