Georgia abortion law not responsible for deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, pro-life doctors say
Georgia's abortion law is not responsible for the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, according to pro-life medical professionals and experts pushing back against a recent claim made by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Following a Monday report by ProPublica, Vice President Harris asserted that the 28-year-old woman's 2022 death is a "consequence of Donald Trump's actions," referring to the former president appointing U.S. Supreme Court justices voted to return the right to states to pass laws regulating abortion in 2022. Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock also wrote in a Tuesday X post that "abortion bans have fatal consequences."
In a statement provided to The Christian Post, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists noted that Thurman died despite taking the abortion drugs as instructed and seeking help when complications arose.
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"Rather than highlighting the dangers of these drugs, which have caused numerous deaths, abortion proponents are instead trying to blame Georgia's laws in their push to protect induced abortion at all costs," AAPLOG stated.
Under Georgia law, abortion is restricted to before a baby's heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks of gestation. There are exceptions in cases of rape, incest and to save a mother's life.
In 2022, Thurman obtained abortion drugs in North Carolina after learning she was pregnant with twins, according to ProPublica. Five days later, she began developing an infection because some of her babies' remains were still inside her uterus.
Doctors at the emergency room in Georgia started Thurman on antibiotics and an IV drip, and an OB-GYN discussed the possibility of performing a dilation and curettage the next day to remove the twins' remains. The doctors did not perform the procedure the next day but continued administering medication.
By the time doctors brought Thurman to the operating room, they learned the young woman's bowel needed to be removed, but such a procedure was too risky due to lack of blood flow. An expert told ProPublica that the lack of blood flow to that area could have been caused by the blood pressure medication administered to Thurman.
An OB-GYN performed the D&C and continued with a hysterectomy, and Thurman's heart stopped during the surgery. ProPublica stated, "[i]t is not clear from the records available why doctors waited to provide a D&C."
Two unnamed sources informed the outlet that doctors were uncertain about how to interpret the state's abortion laws. An expert committee later found that Thurman's death was "preventable." The North Carolina facility where the young woman obtained the abortion pills also does not appear to have followed up with Thurman to determine if she had experienced any complications.
In its statement to CP, AAPLOG cited Ga. Code § 16-12-141, noting that the law allows doctors to intervene during medical emergencies to prevent the death of the pregnant woman and "irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function."
The law also defines abortion as "the act of using, prescribing, or administering any instrument, substance, device, or other means with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy with knowledge that termination will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of an unborn child." Removing a deceased unborn child due to a miscarriage or removing an ectopic pregnancy is not considered an abortion, according to the law's text.
"Don't be misled by those who advocate for induced abortion over the health and safety of women," AAPLOG declared.
On Wednesday, ProPublica published a second report, this time about Miller, a middle-aged woman that the outlet asserted also died as a result of the state's abortion law. In 2022, Miller ordered abortion pills through a website called AidAccess.
Various pro-life experts have warned that ordering abortion drugs through the mail endangers women because they may not receive a thorough examination to learn how far along they are or if they're at risk of potential complications, such as an ectopic pregnancy.
As ProPublica reported, Miller's family did not know how far along she was when she took the abortion drugs. A few days later, the mother started experiencing what the outlet described as "excruciating pain."
Miller died in November 2022, and the autopsy found that her body did not expel all of her unborn child's remains. The autopsy also discovered a "lethal combination" of painkillers, including fentanyl. The medical examiner could not determine the manner of death.
The woman's family said that Miller did not seek medical treatment because she feared she'd face legal consequences due to Georgia's abortion law. A state committee of experts in maternal health also ruled that Miller's death was "preventable."
ProPublica told CP Wednesday that it "stand[s] by [its] reporting" of the Georgia women's deaths.
"The state's committee of more than 30 experts concluded that the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller were preventable, a newsworthy finding," a spokesperson for the outlet stated. "Our ongoing reporting is illuminating the challenges doctors face in caring for patients with pregnancy complications in states with restricted access to abortion."
In a Wednesday statement, AAPLOG declared that Miller died due to "false narratives" that deterred her from seeking care. The pro-life medical group said that Georgia's abortion law does not prevent doctors from providing emergency medical care, nor does it prosecute women seeking treatment after an abortion.
"The media has perpetuated so much blatant misinformation that women think not only that they have to go through this process alone but also that abortion drugs are 'safer than Tylenol' to take without medical supervision," AAPLOG stated. "This misinformation costs lives."
The national pro-life grassroots advocacy organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America responded to the news of the deaths by calling for justice, condemning the "dangerous misinformation spread by the abortion lobby." The organization agreed with the assessment that the deaths of Thurman and Miller were preventable.
"But let's be absolutely clear: Georgia's law and every pro-life state law calls on doctors to act in circumstances just like theirs," SBA Pro-Life America's State Policy Director Katie Daniel said in a Wednesday statement provided to CP. "If abortion advocates weren't spreading misinformation and confusion to score political points, it's possible the outcome would have been different."
"Amber and Candi deserve to be thriving together with their children today. We stand with state attorneys general who continue to fight for women's health and safety, and we call on every state to take action against deadly misinformation," Daniel continued.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that as of December 2022, there have been 32 reported deaths associated with mifepristone since the drug's approval in September 2000. As the pro-life research organization Charlotte Lozier Institute argues, abortion drug complications are underreported to the FDA.
According to a March 2024 fact sheet released by the research institute, the FDA stopped requiring the reporting of abortion drug complications in 2016 unless a death occurred. The Charlotte Lozier Institute also noted that many states do not report abortion complication data, and some do not even report any abortion data at all.
The research group cited a December 2021 study submitted to the FDA in which researchers analyzed FDA adverse event data with abortion data reported by Planned Parenthood.
"Planned Parenthood reported more than twice as many adverse events as the FDA did from 2009 to 2010, even though Planned Parenthood accounted for less than half of all U.S. abortions during that timeframe," the Charlotte Lozier Institute stated.
