ATLANTA — A report claiming that Georgia’s abortion law is responsible for the deaths of two women has captured the nation’s attention, with Vice President Kamala Harris now reacting to the allegations.
Channel 2′s Candace McCowan spoke with the reporter who broke the story and learned the deaths may have been preventable.
Amber Thurman died over two years ago, shortly after Georgia’s abortion law took effect.
A recent report from Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee ruled that her death was preventable.
However, it wasn’t until a journalist connected the dots that Amber’s family was notified.
“Every state has a committee that reviews maternal deaths, but those committees are about two years behind, not just in Georgia but across the United States, so they are just beginning to look at cases that happened after Roe was overturned,” said Pro-Publica writer Kavitha Surana.
Surana explained that the committee put together a report about what happened to Thurman in the final hours of her life at Piedmont Henry Hospital, but her name wasn’t listed in the report.
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“[The report] explained the timeline and kind of what happened inside the hospital, but on the other side of that, we at ProPublica have been reviewing death records and looking for signs that a case could’ve been impacted by abortion, so that’s how we were able to connect the dots,” Surana said.
By using death records, they were able to link the report to Thurman’s family.
Thurman died in 2022 after using an abortion pill but didn’t completely “expel all of the fetal tissue.”
She went to Piedmont Henry, but it took 20 hours before she could get the surgery she needed, and she didn’t survive.
“The reports from the maternal mortality review committee are not public; they don’t share their findings with families or hospitals, so this wouldn’t have come to light without our journalism,” Surana said. “Amber’s family wasn’t aware that this death was found preventable by the maternal mortality review committee until ProPublica’s reporting.”
Surana believes there are other families like Amber’s out there. Her story has caught the attention of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Many hear about the stories -- about the horrendous most recent stories about what happened in Georgia,” Harris said. “It’s immoral.”
Georgia Right to Life responded, in part, stating: “The Life Act in no way prohibits a D&C for a miscarriage. This situation is being used to create massive confusion and fear.”
Piedmont Henry has not responded to requests for comment.
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