Amber Nicole Thurman’s death from an infection in 2022 is believed to be the first confirmed maternal fatality linked to post-Roe bans.
Reproductive justice advocates have been warning for more than two years that the end of Roe v. Wade would lead to surge in maternal mortality among patients denied abortion care—and that the increase was likely to be greatest among low-income women of color. Now, a new report by ProPublica has uncovered the first such verified death. A 28-year-old medical assistant and Black single mother in Georgia died from a severe infection after a hospital delayed a routine medical procedure that had been outlawed under that state’s six-week abortion ban.
Amber Nicole Thurman’s death, in August 2022, was officially deemed “preventable” by a state committee tasked with reviewing pregnancy-related deaths. Thurman’s case is the first time a preventable abortion-related death has come to public attention since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, ProPublica’s Kavitha Surana reported.
Now, “we actually have the substantiated proof of something we already knew—that abortion bans kill people,” said Mini Timmaraju, president of the abortion-rights group Reproductive Freedom for All, during a call with media. “It cannot go on.”
A lot of pro-birth people argue “obviously things are different if the mother’s life is in danger”, but that ignores that there’s often nothing obvious or definite about the line between “safe” and dangerous. Doctors are erring on the side of caution to avoid potential lawsuits and even jail time, and this is the result. People bleeding out in parking lots, suffering irreversible damage to their body, and people dying.
I’ve seen pro-life folks argue that but they frame it like… “the law is fine and it’s a failure of the doctors not being willing to understand the law which led to deaths” and they’ll also follow that up by saying that even if women die, they’re saving more lives by preventing abortions so it’s a net positive.
I find it difficult to argue against that perspective. That is, I disagree with them but also it’s hard to argue when they frame abortions as basically murder.
I think its easier to argue on premises. Why is abortion murder? The bible says life begins at first breath, etc…
The bible also gives a magic abortion potion recipe that only works if the woman cheated, so it’s pretty rich to say that God disapproves.
Do we pay doctors for their legal acumen now?
This WHO article mentions this and cites the study
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/abortion
And conservatives laughing.
It’s still malpractice. Doesn’t matter if it’s illegal.
Which is why we’re also seeing entire maternity wards shut down. Doctors can’t provide care without risking being jailed or being sued for malpractice, so they just won’t practice at all.