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Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will visit Atlanta on Friday to respond to the deaths of two Georgia women linked to the state's abortion ban, according to a ProPublica investigation published this week.

Amber Thurman, 28, a nursing assistant and mother of a 6-year-old son, died after doctors delayed necessary treatment because of Georgia's six-week abortion ban, says the story reported by Kavitha Surana. According to the investigation, medical providers delayed treating the effects of medication abortion, also known as medical abortion.

After reporting Thurman's death, Surana reported a second story about another Georgia woman named Candi Miller who died because she did not seek medical care “due to current pregnancy and abortion laws.”

To tell their stories, ProPublica reviewed medical documents, autopsies and official state commission reports, interviewed family members and loved ones, spoke with government officials and consulted with medical experts, doctors from across the state and the U.S. and people in hospitals.

Here's what the ProPublica investigation found and what you should know about Georgia's abortion law.

ProPublica: Amber Thurman and Candi Miller die under Georgia abortion law

ProPublica's investigation examines the stories of two women who died after Georgia's strict abortion law went into effect in July 2022. The law prohibits abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy, with few exceptions.

According to ProPublica, Thurman unexpectedly became pregnant with twins in 2022 and faced barriers to seeking reproductive care due to the state ban. She went to North Carolina for a medication abortion but suffered rare complications after taking the prescribed abortion pills.

Thurman developed septicemia in the hospital because excess tissue in her uterus would not clear from the body, leading to a serious infection. Thurman needed dilation and curettage (D&C), a procedure that removes tissue from inside the uterus. However, Georgia's ban considers D&C a felony if performed outside of certain circumstances and could land doctors behind bars for up to 10 years.

Thurman's health deteriorated for 20 hours before doctors finally took her to surgery. By that point, it was too late, ProPublica's reporting says. Her heart stopped on the table.

According to ProPublica, Thurman's death was “preventable,” according to the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee. The hospital's delay in providing the D&C due to state law had a “major impact on her fatal outcome,” ProPublica reports.

Candi Miller was a 41-year-old woman from Georgia with chronic health problems such as lupus and high blood pressure that made pregnancy life-threatening.

Miller was already a mother of three children and became pregnant in fall 2022. She did not want to continue the pregnancy out of fear for her life. However, she noted that the exceptions to Georgia's abortion ban apply only to imminent and acute life-threatening emergencies and do not extend to chronic health conditions, even those that can be fatal in pregnancy, ProPublica reports.

Not wanting to wait for the situation to get worse, she decided not to go to a doctor's office for fear of legal repercussions and instead underwent an abortion on her own and ordered pills online. She suffered a rare complication but was reluctant to seek medical help, her family later told officials. On November 12, she was found unresponsive at home.

An autopsy found fetal tissue in her uterus that was the result of the incomplete abortion and a combination of painkillers. Her family said she avoided seeking medical care “due to current legislation on pregnancy and abortion.” The state committee also deemed her death “avoidable,” ProPublica reports.

What does Georgia's abortion law say?

In Georgia, abortion is banned after six weeks, with some exceptions. Georgia passed the six-week ban in November 2022 and it was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2023.

The ban includes some exceptions for rape, incest and the mother's health up to 20 weeks. Critics say six weeks is too early because studies have shown that women typically only find out they are pregnant after at least one missed period, around the fifth to sixth week of pregnancy. Some experts and health care workers have criticized the law for containing vague, difficult-to-interpret language and restrictive provisions about what counts as an “exception.”

Some of the specific language that impacted Thurman's case is examined in depth in ProPublica's report.

Advocates praise the legislation for correcting what they saw as unconstitutional laws in Roe v. Looking at Wade. Some believe that life begins at conception, which means they feel like they are protecting the life of a baby in the womb. Other advocates say abortion was too widespread and too loose before the law took effect, or that their religious beliefs compel them to support restrictions. Supporters also claim that the exemptions provided in the bill are sufficient to protect the health of mothers and babies.

The “Heartbeat” law, known as the LIFE Act, has been the subject of some controversy in state courts after it was initially blocked by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who had previously declared the ban “clearly unconstitutional” on grounds: It was introduced in 2019 before the Roe v. Wade decision was overturned.

However, the higher court ruled last October that the new precedent created by the repeal was now the standard for adjudicating abortion issues in a 6-1 decision.

Responses to ProPublica's investigation

Some organizations issued statements in response to ProPublica's reporting.

Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in part: “Amber Thurman should be alive today. Her death was preventable—her doctors knew how to perform the basic medical procedure needed to save her life, but felt their hands were tied because of the state's abortion ban. The Georgia lawmakers who enacted this ban are ultimately responsible for their deaths, and the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade voted.”

Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG), said in part: “Amber Thurman's tragic death, recently reported by multiple news organizations, was not caused by side effects of legal abortion drugs and medical negligence.” As instructed and sought medical help in a timely manner in the event of complications, she still died.

What did Kamala Harris say about abortion bans?

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris responded to the ProPublica post with a statement on social media on Tuesday:

“A young mother from Georgia should be alive today, raising her son and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school,” she said of Thurman. “Women bleed to death in parking lots, are turned away from emergency rooms, and lose their ability to ever get there.” again, kids. Rape and incest survivors are told that they cannot make decisions about what happens to their bodies. And now women are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions.”

Harris will also address abortion bans in a planned speech in Atlanta on Friday.

What did Donald Trump say about abortion bans?

“President Trump has always supported exceptions for rape, incest and maternal life that Georgia law provides,” the Trump campaign told USA TODAY in response to Thurman’s death. “Given these exceptions, it is unclear why doctors did not act quickly to protect Amber Thurman’s life.”

Trump has often said he believes the issue should be left to the states.

In late August, in an interview with NBC, the former president criticized Florida's ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy, saying, “I think the six weeks is too short; “There has to be more time.” However, a day later, he announced that he would vote against a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would repeal the ban, citing concerns that it would lead to “ninth month” abortions.

On By John Fenwick

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