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Amber Thurman was a 28-year-old mother who decided to get an abortion when she discovered she was pregnant with twins. Thurman, unable to abort the babies in Georgia, drove to North Carolina for a scheduled surgical abortion that she missed, ProPublica says, because of traffic. The North Carolina facility gave her two abortion pills. Within days of taking these supposedly safe pills, Amber's children were dead and her body and life in distress.
I grieve the death of Amber Thurman’s twin babies. I also grieve the death of Amber Thurman, a young woman whose promising future was cut short. Amber’s story should be a national spotlight for the dangers of the abortion pill rather than a story to rally America against lifesaving laws such as Georgia’s Life Act.
The article alleges that Thurman died because a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure is illegal in Georgia. This is categorically untrue. Georgia law prohibits the use of any instrument "with the purpose of terminating a pregnancy.” After taking the pills, Amber’s pregnancy was terminated and the Life Act was no longer applicable. The law does not prohibit the common sense use of procedures to remove a dead baby when the mother is at high risk of dying from sepsis. First, D&Cs are used legally in Georgia for treating uterine issues. Second, Georgia law explicitly allows appropriate medical procedures where the mother’s life is in danger. By contradicting these facts, ProPublica not only misleads the public but may cause women to avoid necessary medical procedures, putting their health and lives at risk as was the case with Candi Miller, a second woman who died in Georgia in 2022 after taking abortion pills.
ProPublica and activists who claim to be concerned about women’s health should instead focus on the real dangers of the abortion pill, which they conveniently ignore. Most women are not provided the black box warning on the pill and are not made aware sepsis is a potential risk. As the article suggests was the case with Amber most women are handed the two pills without the packaging. Also, there is little acknowledgment of the emotional and physical toll that women face when taking it. Women are advised to ‘just flush' to avoid seeing the tiny, precious body of the baby they’ve just aborted. That is the grim reality ProPublica wants the public to overlook.
The ProPublica article reports, “Doctors and a nurse involved in Thurman’s care declined to explain their thinking and did not respond to questions from ProPublica. Communications staff from the hospital did not respond to multiple requests for comment.” Why didn’t the hospital explain their actions? Perhaps because they cannot justify the negligence involved in delaying lifesaving care.
ProPublica shares the hospital’s numerous lapses in care including the administration of a dangerous and high risk medication that restricts blood flow, sometimes leading to the need for amputation. There were other critical details ProPublica glossed over including the doctors discussing a D&C procedure multiple times as Thurman’s condition deteriorated over a 20 hour period. Instead of probing these significant lapses in care, ProPublica chose to downplay them, blaming pro-life laws rather than what appears to be a gross medical failure.
Georgia has long been considered a maternity care desert for Black women. Instead of holding the hospital accountable for its lack of action, ProPublica, Vice President Harris and internet pundits choose to repeat the lie that doctors are not able to offer lifesaving care. By choosing to push a misleading political agenda, they are putting politics above the health and well-being of women.
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Catherine Davis is the Founder and President of The Restoration Project. She often partners with the National Black Prolife Coalition, the Network of Politically Active Christians, and the Frederick Douglas Foundation in an ongoing effort to educate Americans about the issues that are impacting the Black community.
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