Doctors concerned over reinstatement of abortion ban after Heartbeat law overturned

ATLANTA — Some Georgia doctors are concerned about the potential reinstatement of a ban on abortions. A judge overturned Georgia’s Heartbeat Bill on Monday, allowing abortions to resume.

Amber Thurman’s story highlighted the consequences of the Heartbeat Bill. Thurman died after waiting 20 hours for Piedmont Henry doctors to treat complications from an abortion pill.

“She’s gone because they allowed her to suffer,” Thurman’s sister Cjauna “CJ” Williams told Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi.

“I want to know why. As her mom, this is the hardest thing,” said her mother, Shanette Williams.

A medical committee later deemed Thurman’s death preventable.

According to the family’s attorneys, Georgia’s Heartbeat Bill, which banned abortions after six weeks, still provided doctors with options to treat her, but they failed to do so.

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“One is a medical emergency which is the life of the mother and two, you don’t have a viable fetus,” Michael Harper, the attorney, said.

A judge overturned the Heartbeat Bill on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and infringed on women’s rights. This ruling now permits abortions up to 22 weeks instead of six.

Attorney General Chris Carr’s spokesperson stated, “We believe Georgia’s LIFE Act is fully constitutional, and we will immediately appeal the lower court’s decision.”

State Sen. Ed Setzler, who sponsored the Heartbeat Bill, defended the legislation.

“We were criticized for passing the Life Act that we passed because we didn’t ban all abortions. There’s a balance we tried to strike here in Georgia,” Setzler said.

Pro-choice advocates anticipate a court battle ahead. In the meantime, some doctors plan to perform as many procedures as possible.

“Since the six-week ban went into effect, we have regularly had to turn people away when a heartbeat was detected. As of today, we will have to turn no one away,” said Kwajelyn Jackson, the executive director of the Feminist Women’s Health Center.

Thurman’s family hopes the new ruling will help others avoid similar tragedies.

“I would hate for this to happen to another mother, sister, cousin, aunt. But Amber is gone,” CJ Williams said.

The Thurmond family plans to sue the hospital and wants the state to address potential racial factors involved in their case.

RELATED NEWS:

Amber Thurman’s mother says ‘my baby was extremely strong’ before ‘preventable’ death Amber had taken an abortion pill but did not completely expel all the fetal tissue, but it took 20 hours before she received the surgery she needed.

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