It’s been a little over two years since the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion guaranteed by the 50 year precedent of Roe v. Wade. As a result, abortion regulations reverted back to the states to control, leaving more than 25 million women and more trans and non-binary people living in states that now have abortion bans or restrictions. In July 2022 in Georgia, abortion care became illegal after about six weeks into pregnancy — long before many people even realize they’re pregnant.
According to an extensive investigation from ProPublica, the law may have proved fatal for 28-year-old Amber Nicole Thurman, who died from complications from a medication abortion after she couldn’t access abortion care in her home state of Georgia. ProPublica reports that the state’s maternal mortality review committee found that her death was preventable and said a delay in care had a “large” impact. These committees exist in each state but, ProPublica reports, typically operate on a years-long lag, and don’t release their findings. ProPublica obtained findings about two cases in which the committee ruled a death to be preventable, and that experts told the outlet were likely caused by an abortion ban.
Thurman, the mother of a six-year-old-son, had already attempted to obtain a surgical abortion in North Carolina, planning to drive four hours with a friend to the clinic. Hitting traffic, Thurman missed her appointment. Because so many women from out of state also now faced restrictive new laws, the clinic was reportedly booked that day, and could not reschedule.
Because her pregnancy was still within the time limit to use medication abortion, ProPublica reports the clinic offered her the abortion pill, which are regarded as overwhelmingly safe and effective. She received counseling and instructions from the clinic that prescribed the medication. Although an extremely rare occurrence, Thurman reportedly experienced complications that led to an infection. She entered a nearby hospital where medical examinations indicated she was experiencing an incomplete abortion, according to the report, which would require further medical intervention.
According to ProPublica, doctors initially declined to give her a D&C (dilation and curettage), a routine and safe procedure for both abortions and miscarriages, to completely expel remaining fetal tissue. When she was finally taken to the operating theater, about 20 hours later, her condition had deteriorated so severely that doctors began to perform a hysterectomy after performing a D&C. Thurman died on the operating table.
This week, ProPublica also shared a report on the death of Candi Miller, another woman seeking abortion care in Georgia. Maternal health experts who reviewed the case for the state committee also deemed her death preventable. Several of those experts, speaking to ProPublica anonymously, said it was a result of Georgia’s abortion ban.
Despite the state commission’s determination that Thurman’s death was preventable, the Trump campaign has already argued that nothing in Georgia’s law stopped the D&C from happening earlier. “President Trump has always supported exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, which Georgia’s law provides,” Trump’s campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement to the AP. “With those exceptions in place, it’s unclear why doctors did not swiftly act to protect Amber Thurman’s life.” The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a document which Democrats describe as a guide for Trump’s potential second term, calls for extra regulations of abortion pills — eventually, Project 2025 calls for the FDA to revoke its approval of these medications altogether.
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