Georgia’s abortion ban linked to Amber Thurman’s death in ProPublica investigation: What you should know

This story has been updated to add new information.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will visit Atlanta on Friday to respond to the deaths of two Georgia women linked to the state’s abortion ban, according to a ProPublica investigation released this week.

Amber Thurman, 28, a nurse and mother of a 6-year-old son, died after doctors delayed necessary treatments due to Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, according to the report, reported by Kavitha Surana. According to the investigation, medical providers delayed treating the aftermath of a medication abortion, also known as a medical abortion.

After reporting on Thurman’s death, Surana wrote a second article about another Georgia woman named Candi Miller, who died because she did not seek medical care “due to current pregnancy and abortion laws.”

To tell their stories, ProPublica reviewed medical documents, autopsies and official reports from state committees, interviewed family members and loved ones, spoke with government officials and consulted medical experts, doctors from across the state and the U.S. and people in hospitals.

Here’s what ProPublica’s investigation found and what you should know about Georgia’s abortion law.

ProPublica: Amber Thurman and Candi Miller die because of Georgia abortion law

ProPublica’s investigation follows the stories of two women who died after Georgia’s strict abortion law went into effect in July 2022. The law bans abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy with few exceptions.

According to ProPublica, Thurman unexpectedly became pregnant with twins in 2022 and had no way to receive reproductive care due to the state’s ban. She went to North Carolina for a medication abortion but experienced rare complications after taking the prescribed abortion pills.

Thurman developed sepsis in the hospital because excess tissue in her uterus did not exit her body, causing a serious infection. Thurman required a dilation and curettage, a procedure that removes tissue from the uterus. However, Georgia’s ban considers a D&C a crime if performed outside of certain circumstances and can put doctors behind bars for up to 10 years.

Thurman’s health deteriorated for 20 hours before doctors finally had to operate on her. But by then it was too late, according to a report by ProPublica. Her heart stopped on the table.

Thurman’s death was “preventable,” according to a statement from the Georgia Maternal Mortality Committee. The delay in hospital curettage due to state law “had a major impact on her fatal outcome,” reports ProPublica.

Candi Miller was a 41-year-old woman from Georgia who suffered from chronic health problems, including lupus and high blood pressure, that made pregnancy life-threatening.

Miller, already a mother of three, became pregnant in the fall of 2022. Fearing for her life, she did not want to continue the pregnancy. However, she found that exceptions to Georgia’s abortion ban applied only to immediate and acute life-threatening emergencies and did not extend to chronic conditions, including those that can be fatal during pregnancy, ProPublica reports.

Not wanting to wait until things got worse, she avoided seeing a doctor for fear of legal consequences and instead underwent an abortion herself by ordering the pills online. She suffered a rare complication but was hesitant to seek medical help, her family later told authorities. She was found unconscious at home on November 12.

An autopsy found fetal tissue in her uterus, which was the result of the incomplete abortion and a combination of painkillers. Her family said she avoided seeking medical help “due to current pregnancy and abortion legislation.” The state committee also deemed her death “preventable,” ProPublica reports.

What does Georgia’s abortion law say?

Georgia bans abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Georgia passed the six-week ban in November 2022, and it was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2023.

The ban allows for some exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s health up to 20 weeks. Critics say six weeks is too early, as studies have shown that women generally do not find out they are pregnant until they have missed at least one period, around the fifth to sixth week of pregnancy. Some experts and health workers criticize the law for containing vague, difficult-to-interpret language and restrictive provisions on what counts as an “exception.”

Some of the specific language that influenced Thurman’s case is examined in detail in ProPublica’s report.

Supporters praise the bill because it corrects laws they say were unconstitutional in Roe v. Wade. Some believe that life begins at conception and say they protect the life of a baby in the womb. Other supporters say that abortion was too widespread and loosely administered before the law was enacted, or that their religious beliefs compel them to support restrictions. Supporters also claim that the exemptions provided in the bill are sufficient to protect the health of mothers and babies.

The “heartbeat” law, known as the LIFE Act, has been the subject of some battle in the state courts after it was initially blocked by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who had previously declared the ban “clearly unconstitutional” on the grounds that it was introduced in 2019 before the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

However, the higher court ruled in a 6-1 decision last October that the new precedent set by the repeal now serves as the standard for adjudicating abortion-related matters.

Reactions to ProPublica’s investigation

Some organizations responded to ProPublica’s reporting with statements.

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in part, “Amber Thurman should be alive today. Her death was preventable – her doctors knew how to perform the basic medical procedures needed to save her life, but they felt their hands were tied by the state’s abortion ban. The Georgia legislators who passed that ban are ultimately responsible for her death, as are the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG), said in part, “The tragic death of Amber Thurman, recently reported by several news outlets, was caused by side effects of legal abortion drugs and medical negligence, not pro-life laws. Even though she took the drugs as prescribed and sought timely treatment when complications arose, she died.”

What did Kamala Harris say about abortion bans?

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris responded to the ProPublica article with a statement on social media on Tuesday:

“A young Georgia mother should be alive today, raising her son and pursuing her dream of going to nursing school,” she said of Thurman. “Women are bleeding to death in parking lots, being turned away from emergency rooms, and losing their ability to ever have children again. Survivors of rape and incest are being told they can’t choose what happens to their bodies. And now women are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions.”

Harris will also address the issue of abortion bans in a speech scheduled for Friday in Atlanta.

What did Donald Trump say about abortion bans?

“President Trump has consistently supported exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother provided by Georgia law,” the Trump campaign told USA TODAY in response to Thurman’s death. “Given these exceptions, it is unclear why doctors did not act quickly to protect Amber Thurman’s life.”

Trump has often stressed that he believes the issue should be left to the states.

In late August, the former president criticized Florida’s ban on abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy in an interview with NBC, saying, “I think six weeks is too short; there has to be more time.” A day later, however, he announced that he would vote against a referendum in his home state of Florida that would repeal the ban, fearing it would lead to “ninth-month” abortions.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What you should know about Amber Thurman’s death and Georgia’s abortion ban