Heartbroken Georgia Mom Haunted by One Word After Daughter Dies in Agony Due to Abortion Denial
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The grieving family of Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old woman who died after being denied timely medical care under Georgia’s restrictive abortion laws, continues to be haunted by the word “preventable.” Amber tragically passed away in August 2022 after complications from a medication abortion.
She sought medical attention at Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge when not all fetal tissue had 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 abortion ban, which had recently been enacted, criminalized certain procedures, leading doctors to hesitate for fear of prosecution. Amber, a medical assistant and mother of a six-year-old son, was left waiting 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, as per reports in the Mirror US.
Amber’s death was later deemed “preventable” by a Georgia maternal death committee, which included 10 doctors. The committee found that the hospital’s delay in performing the procedure had a “large” impact on her death, marking this as the first publicized case of an abortion-related death officially considered preventable since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, told ProPublica.
Amber’s mother, Shanette Thurman, emotionally recounted her daughter’s story during a live-streamed campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris, hosted by Oprah Winfrey. Shanette, alongside Amber’s sister CJ, attended the event, where Harris placed the blame on former President Donald Trump for appointing the 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 grim reality women face under restrictive abortion laws, adding, “Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms… And now women are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions.”
CJ Thurman expressed guilt and heartbreak over trusting the hospital to care for her sister. “It’s heartbreaking. That was my baby 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 life of the mother. However, Amber’s family and supporters continue to call attention to the dangerous delays caused by the legal uncertainty surrounding abortion care in states like Georgia.
