Amber Thurman, a 28-year-old mother from Georgia, tragically passed away in August 2022 due to complications following a medication abortion. Despite the couple of years that have passed since this tragedy, her death has brought significant attention nowadays because of the impact of restrictive abortion laws on women’s health and safety.
Amber, who was a medical assistant and aspiring nursing student, discovered she was pregnant with twins shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Facing a challenging situation, she decided to terminate the pregnancy to maintain her stability and care for her 6-year-old son.
Amber Thurman Died in Georgia After Abortion Ban Law Delayed Medical Care
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I am seeing so many people talk about Dilation and curettage following the death of Amber Thurman and my blood is boiling.
D&C’s are used to treat miscarriages, criminalizing them in ANY capacity doesn’t do ANYTHING but put women in danger.
Killing women is a policy choice!
— Olivia Julianna 🇺🇸🦅🗳️ (@0liviajulianna) September 18, 2024
Due to Georgia’s stringent abortion laws, Amber Thurman was unable to obtain a surgical abortion in her home state. Instead, she traveled to North Carolina, where she was given a medication abortion. Unfortunately, she experienced a rare complication where not all fetal tissue was expelled from her body.
Amber sought help at Piedmont Henry Hospital in Georgia, where she needed a routine dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure to remove the remaining tissue. However, the hospital delayed the procedure for 20 hours due to the state’s restrictive abortion laws, which made performing such procedures a felony with few exceptions.
By the time doctors finally operated, it was too late, and Amber Thurman succumbed to a severe infection.
Her death has been officially deemed “preventable” by a state committee tasked with examining pregnancy-related deaths.
On the same day reporting emerged about 28-year-old Amber Thurman dying after not receiving urgent care in Georgia, JD Vance called overturning Roe “a victory” during a speech in *Atlanta.*@jrpsaki: “It sure as hell wasn’t a victory for Amber.” pic.twitter.com/PL5bt939Mz
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) September 17, 2024
According to ProPublica Dr. Melissa Kottke, an OB-GYN at Emory, warned lawmakers in 2019 during one of the hearings over Georgia’s ban: “They would feel the need to wait for a higher blood pressure, wait for a higher fever — really got to justify this one — bleed a little bit more.”
This tragic case underscores the dangers posed by restrictive abortion laws, which can delay critical medical care and lead to preventable fatalities.