Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old medical assistant from suburban Atlanta, tragically died after her hospital delayed a life-saving procedure due to Georgia’s restrictive abortion laws. Thurman experienced a rare complication after taking abortion pills, where not all fetal tissue was expelled from her body. She arrived at Piedmont Henry Hospital needing a routine procedure called a dilation and curettage (D&C) to clear her uterus and stop a dangerous infection.
However, under a new Georgia law passed just that summer, performing a D&C could be considered a felony in cases related to abortion, with limited exceptions. Doctors faced the threat of prosecution and up to 10 years in prison if they violated the law. This legal risk caused a deadly delay in Thurman’s care.
Thurman spent 20 hours in agony, her infection worsening, while doctors hesitated to perform the necessary procedure. Her condition quickly deteriorated—her blood pressure plummeted, her organs began to fail, and the infection spread. By the time the medical team decided to operate, it was too late. Amber Nicole Thurman, who had dreams of attending nursing school, tragically lost her life.
A state committee of medical experts, tasked with reviewing pregnancy-related deaths, recently concluded that Thurman’s death was “preventable.” The delay in performing the D&C, they found, had a “large” impact on her fatal outcome. Despite the hospital being fully equipped to handle her condition, legal restrictions tied to the abortion ban led to unnecessary hesitation.
While individual reviews of patient cases aren’t typically made public, ProPublica uncovered reports confirming that at least two women in Georgia have already died because they were unable to access legal abortions and timely medical care.
