Amber Thurman’s Family React to Georgia Abortion Ban Being Struck Down

The family of Amber Thurman, a Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat a rare complication from taking an abortion pill, has spoken out after a judge struck down the state’s abortion law.

Georgia’s LIFE Act took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022 and banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, effectively prohibiting abortions beyond around six weeks of pregnancy, and criminalized performing one with limited exceptions.

Thurman, who died aged 28, had sought help at the Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia, for complications from taking an abortion pill in August 2022. ProPublica reported that even as she developed sepsis, doctors at the hospital did not evacuate the remaining fetal tissue in her uterus with a procedure called a dilation and curettage (D&C). She later died on the operating table.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his order on Monday that the law violates Georgia’s Constitution, two weeks after ProPublica’s reporting on the deaths of Thurman and another Georgia woman demonstrated the risks the ban poses to maternal health.

He wrote that “liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.”

Thurman’s death, which was first reported by ProPublica last month, came just two weeks after Georgia enacted the law.

ProPublica reported that Georgia’s maternal mortality committee deemed Thurman’s death preventable and that the hospital’s delay in performing the procedure had a “large” impact on the outcome.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Thurman’s mother Shanette Williams said: “It is so disheartening. It is heartbreaking. It is upsetting. Every emotion that you could think that a mother would have, I have it.”

She recalled reassuring her daughter that doctors at the hospital were “going to take good care of her.”

“She kept emphasizing to me the pain, me not understanding, she was giving me instructions,” she said.

“When she began to cry, I knew that this was serious, because my baby was a strong person, and for her to cry, the only thing I did was wipe tears and told her they were going to take good care of her.”

Thurman’s sister C.J. Williams said that she was “angry” and “beyond heartbroken.”

She said: “I understand that now, you know they’re trying to do something about it, but my sister is gone. I would hate to have this happen to another mother, daughter, sister, cousin, aunt. But Amber is gone. Did she really have to be the sacrifice? I feel like she had to be the sacrifice for the greater good.”

Her sister’s death could have been prevented and someone “has to be held accountable,” she said. “We want justice. We’re going to get justice for Amber.”

Ben Crump, an attorney representing the family, said the judge’s decision striking down the state’s abortion ban was “bittersweet” for the family.

“Because even though it is likely to prevent any other women in the state of Georgia, for the foreseeable future, being put in peril as Amber was, but it wasn’t in place to save Amber’s life,” he said.

Crump said he intends to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital on behalf of Thurman’s family.

He called doctors negligent for leaving Thurman to “cry and vomit and turn blue for 20 hours” and not informing her mother about her declining health.

Crump referred to a federal law, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, which requires doctors to stabilize or treat any patient who shows up at an emergency room.

“You have a duty to stabilize her and then give her the option to go to another hospital facility, but you cannot let her suffer and die on your hospital bed when the death is preventable,” he said.

Michael Harper, a Georgia-based attorney, said that Thurman’s life should have been saved under Georgia’s six-week abortion law because it allows abortions to be performed if a doctor determines there is a medical emergency or if the fetus is not viable.

“When Amber Thurman went to the hospital, there, there was no heartbeat to detect. There was no viable fetus,” Harper said.

“There was no reason for these doctors to have any kind of complication or issue as to what to do next. The law would have allowed them to immediately perform surgery on Ms. Thurman[…]They still should have operated because she fell under those two vital exceptions.”

Thurman’s Family Thanks Tim Walz

Thurman’s family thanked Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz for sharing her story during Tuesday’s debate.

The Minnesota governor repeatedly pounced on his Republican opponent, Ohio Senator JD Vance, over access to abortion during the debate, as Vance argued that leaving abortion laws to the states is the right approach.

Walz hit back that a “basic right” for a woman should not be determined “by geography.”

He then brought up Thurman, saying there’s a “very real chance” that she would still be alive if had she had lived in Minnesota rather than Georgia.

“There’s a young woman named Amber Thurman,” Walz said. “She happened to be in Georgia, a restrictive state. Because of that, she had to travel a long distance to North Carolina to try and get her care. Amber Thurman died in that journey back and forth.”

He added: “The fact of the matter is, how can we as a nation say that your life and your rights, as basic as the right to control your own body, is determined on geography. There’s a very real chance had Amber Thurman lived in Minnesota, she would be alive today.”

In a statement provided to Newsweek through their attorney, Thurman’s family said that they “commend Governor Tim Walz for telling Amber’s story and for his unwavering commitment to defending women’s reproductive rights.”

The statement said: “Amber’s tragic death was a direct result of Georgia’s archaic and dangerously restrictive abortion laws, which denied her the life-saving care she so desperately needed.

“We strongly condemn the Republican platform that seeks to further restrict women’s access to necessary healthcare under the false guise of protection. We are grieving an unimaginable loss that no family should have to endure.

“We must continue to fight against laws that put women’s lives at risk, and we are grateful to leaders like Governor Walz who advocate for common sense laws while exhibiting such compassion.”

The family added that the “fight for justice for Amber is a fight for every woman’s right to make decisions about her own body and access the medical care she needs. We will not stop until these dangerous laws are repealed, and no more lives are lost. Until then, we must keep saying her name: Amber Thurman!”