The family of Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old woman who died after being denied timely medical care under Georgia’s restrictive abortion laws, remains haunted by the word “preventable.” Amber tragically passed away in August 2022 after complications from a medication abortion.
She sought medical care at Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge when all the fetal tissue had not been expelled from her body. The routine procedure, known as dilation and curettage (D&C), would have removed the tissue, but Georgia’s abortion ban delayed her treatment.
The state’s recently enacted abortion ban criminalized certain procedures, causing doctors to hesitate for fear of prosecution. Amber, a physician assistant and mother of a six-year-old boy, had to wait in her hospital bed for 20 hours as her condition worsened. Her infection spread, her blood pressure dropped, and her organs began to fail. By the time doctors finally decided to operate, it was too late, according to reports. The mirror of the United States.
Amber’s death was later deemed “preventable” by a Georgia maternal death committee, which included 10 doctors. The committee determined that the hospital’s delay in performing the procedure had a “significant” impact on her death, marking this case as the first publicized instance of an abortion-related death being officially deemed preventable since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it was reported. ProPublica.
Amber’s mother, Shanette Thurman, emotionally told her daughter’s story during a livestreamed campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris, hosted by Oprah Winfrey. Shanette, along with Amber’s sister, CJ, attended the event, where Harris blamed former President Donald Trump for appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.
“This young mother should be alive, raising her son and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school,” Harris said. She highlighted the harsh reality women face under restrictive abortion laws, adding: “Women are bleeding out in parking lots, being turned away in emergency rooms… And now women are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions.”
CJ Thurman expressed guilt and grief over having trusted the hospital to care for her sister. “It’s heartbreaking. She was my little sister. I feel guilty. I wish I could have helped,” she shared. While Amber’s death is a tragic example of the far-reaching consequences of abortion bans, the Trump campaign deflected blame, claiming the hospital should have acted within the law’s exceptions for the mother’s life. However, Amber’s family and their supporters continue to draw attention to the dangerous delays caused by legal uncertainty surrounding abortion care in states like Georgia.
