Georgia Ban Kills Young Mother

9.16.24

Click to skip ahead: A Death in Georgia looks at a horrific ProPublica story about a young mother who was killed by an abortion ban. Criminalizing Pregnancy tells the story of a woman in South Carolina charged with murder for her miscarriage. In the States, news from Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and New Hampshire. Ballot Measure Updates looks at Florida and Missouri. In the Nation, some quick hits. 2024 news gets into JD Vance’s apology tour. And in Keep An Eye On, a crisis pregnancy center in Massachusetts hacked into an abortion clinic’s records to send messages to patients.

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A Death in Georgia

An abortion ban has killed a woman in Georgia. ProPublica has the story of Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old medical assistant and mother who died in a hospital, surrounded by people who could have saved her but didn’t.

Reporter Kavitha Surana—one of the best abortion rights journalists in the country—painstakingly details the way that Thurman was killed by a state that claims to allow abortions to save women’s lives.

You should read the entire story, if you can, but the key details are that Thurman took abortion medication to end a 9 week pregnancy, and later went to an Atlanta hospital because not all of the fetal tissue had expelled. The standard of care for the rare complication would have been to give Thurman antibiotics and remove the remaining tissue. Because of Georgia’s abortion ban, Piedmont Henry Hospital only did the former.

In fact, despite diagnosing Thurman with sepsis, the hospital waited 20 hours before removing the source of her infection—and by then, it was too late.

Over the next few days and weeks, we’re going to hear all sorts of bullshit from anti-abortion activists and lawmakers. They’re going to say that Thurman died not because of Georgia’s abortion ban, but because of abortion medication. Or they’ll blame the hospital for supposedly not understanding the law, which they’ll say of course allows for abortion when necessary to save someone’s life. That, too, will be a lie.

We know that Thurman isn’t the first woman to be killed by an abortion ban. Anyone who works in abortion rights can tell you that many women have died, we’re just not hearing their stories. In part, it’s because abortion rights activists are protecting patients and their families—making sure they know what it’s like to share a story like this publicly. But we’re also not hearing about post-Roe deaths because mainstream publications appear to be struggling with how to report on them. That’s why I’m so grateful to ProPublica and Surana for their coverage here.

ProPublica says they’ll be reporting on more deaths in the coming days, and I’m sure we’ll hear more stories like Thurman’s. The question is whether their names will reach beyond the pages of these publications. I really hope they do.

For more on why we aren’t hearing about post-Roe deaths, read my column below:

Searching for Savita

Criminalizing Pregnancy

I hate to hit you with one horror story after another, but I figured better to rip the bandaid off at the top of the newsletter. A 22 year-old college students was charged with “homicide by child abuse” in South Carolina after suffering a miscarriage. Thankfully, a grand jury declined to pursue charges against the student last week, but this is just another example of the kind of criminalization nightmare we can expect to see again and again.

In fact, Amari Marsh’s story sounds strikingly similar to Brittany Watts’—the Ohio woman who was charged with ‘abuse of a corpse’ after flushing her miscarriage. In Marsh’s case, she was several months into her pregnancy when she had a miscarriage. Even though Marsh called 911 for help, local news outlets reported that the young woman “gave birth” into her toilet and covered the fetus with toilet paper. Like Watts, Marsh is also Black; we know that Black women are much more likely to be criminalized for their pregnancy outcomes.

Here’s Pregnancy Justice Legal Director Karen Thompson on the case:

“There’s no rulebook for pregnancy loss, and we do know that Amari did nothing wrong and never should have been charged. The state’s justification of its charge—that Amari waited a whole 10 minutes to call 911—underscores the fact that being pregnant in America is in and of itself a reason for suspicion, especially if you’re Black. Our country has a long history of controlling Black bodies, and it seems hellbent on continuing this deeply disturbing tradition through the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes.”

What’s also important to remember is that even though these charges were dropped, it doesn’t mean that there wasn’t incredible harm done. Marsh says that while she’s relieved the case is over, “they will never fully understand what they put me through.”

“While facing a murder charge and the possibility of decades in prison, I still had to process my pregnancy loss. I’m now working to rebuild my life through counseling, and I’m back in school.”

To show some support to Marsh, consider donating to her GoFundMe here. And for more on criminalization, read Abortion, Every Day’s coverage of the issue here and here.

In the States

Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban is officially off the books, nearly five months after the state legislature voted to repeal the law. For those who need a refresher: The Arizona Supreme Court had ruled in support of the ban—a law created before women had the right to vote—which led to a huge national backlash. Republicans running in national races (like Trump) were concerned that the law would hurt them on election day, so they convinced several Arizona Republicans to vote with Democrats to repeal the law.

Now, abortion is legal in the state up until 15 weeks, and there’s a pro-choice measure on the ballot this November. Read more about why Arizona’s ban was such a national tipping point here.

A reminder that abortion medication will become a controlled substance in Louisiana on October 1st—a move that has already put pregnant people’s lives in danger, with hospitals removing the medication from their obstetric crash carts. (Controlled substances have a specific protocol for prescriptions and must be locked up.) KUOW spoke to emergency room physician Jennifer Avegno, head of the New Orleans Health Department, about what this means for patients and providers.

In New Mexico, the Democrat running to for reelection in a competitive House seat is focusing on abortion rights as his opponent attacks him on immigration policy. The New York Times covers it as a battle of political messages—with Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez betting on abortion to bring him home a win. I really like that Vasquez is going after Republicans for talking about abortion as a “states’ rights” issue:

“That is now the de facto position of folks who want to limit women’s reproductive health care. We’ve seen the consequences of what this means for women.”

It’s so vital that we’re pointing out what this message really is: cowardice.

The Democrat running for New Hampshire governor, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, reiterated her support for abortion rights in a local television segment this weekend. Craig also said her opponent Kelly Ayotte has spent her entire career “attacking reproductive freedom,” and that “she is saying anything she can to be elected.” (Ayotte, like most Republicans, has been trying to play down her anti-abortion extremism.)

I missed this last week out of Indiana: A judge denied abortion rights activists’ attempts to broaden an ‘exception’ to the state’s total abortion ban that would have made it easier for doctors to give women health- and life-saving care.

The abortion providers who brought the suit argued that the ban’s so-called exception was narrow and vague, and that it’s putting patients’ lives at risk. While the judge acknowledged that the law put doctors in "the incredibly unenviable position" of sorting out when to give care under threat of prosecution, and that providers had offered “significant and compelling evidence,” she still ruled that the ban could remain as is. A nightmare.

Finally, let’s end with some good-ish news—because I could not love this more. A 93 year-old man in Oklahoma bought a billboard declaring, “Women, the Republican party does not respect you…vote Democrat.” When a local news outlet asked Burt Holmes why he bought the billboard, he said, “Because I think women can win the next big election in the country if they will get out and vote.” Burt knows what’s up!

Quick hits:

• USA Today on the North Dakota ruling repealing the state’s abortion ban;

• CVS locations in Massachusetts are now offering prescriptions for hormonal contraceptives;

• And Mother Jones updates readers on some of the good news we had last week in abortion rights in Nevada, North Dakota, Missouri and Nebraska.

Ballot Measure Updates

If you’re a regular reader, you know that one of the most common anti-abortion attacks against pro-choice ballot measures is to claim that they not only erase parental rights—but allow children to get gender-affirming care without parental consent. Essentially, Republicans know that abortion rights are incredibly popular, so they’re banking on anti-trans bigotry instead.

We saw that messaging pop up recently in Missouri, where Sen. Josh Hawley told an audience that Amendment 3, which would restore abortion rights in the state, would allow activists to “sterilize” their children.

“This is about an effort to come into our schools, behind your backs without your knowledge, to tell our kids that there’s something wrong with them and to give them drugs that will sterilize them for life, to push them towards procedures that will fundamentally change their bodies, irrevocably for life and there will be nothing we can do about it.”

Absolute insanity. While Hawley makes shit up about the pro-choice amendment, more than 800 doctors and medical professionals have signed onto a letter supporting the measure:

“Missourians are being denied abortions and forced to continue life-threatening pregnancies, risking their health and lives. Doctors can’t treat patients with heartbreaking pregnancy complications until they are on the brink of death. Otherwise, they could be put in jail…No one should ever have their health deteriorate or need to flee to receive care, nor should anyone have to carry a pregnancy against their will.”

It’s no wonder that Missouri’s abortion rights ballot measure campaign has doubled its fundraising since it was approved for the ballot last month. Not only are voters seeing the consequences of abortion bans first hand, the increase in donations may be thanks to voters’ fury over Republicans in the state trying to keep abortion off the ballot. Remember, the Missouri Supreme Court had to force Republicans to keep the issue on November’s ballot after a conservative judge ruled that the measure was “invalid.”

Meanwhile, abortion rights organizations in Florida are suing over a website launched by the state Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) that claims Amendment 4 puts women’s lives in danger. It’s illegal for the state to use taxpayer funds to lobby against a citizen initiative, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans from weaponizing Florida agencies to keep abortion banned. Read more about the Florida GOP’s dirty tricks here.

Also: I’m seeing more coverage of the doctors in Florida coming out against Amendment 4, so I just want to remind folks that these extremist doctors were organized by the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG). That’s the downright batshit organization that says abortion is never necessary to save a woman’s life and that doctors should give patients c-sections instead of abortions, even if the fetus isn’t viable. So yeah, maybe don’t listen to them.

One last thing: I joined Dahlia Lithwick at her Slate podcast “Amicus” to talk about the attacks on ballot measures, along with Lauren Brenzel, the campaign director of Amendment 4 in Florida. You can listen to our conversation here.

In the Nation

• TIME magazine on the threat of the Comstock Act should Harris lose;

• ProPublica has published a FAQ on abortion medication’s safety (tl;dr, it’s safe);

• NPR looks at the “DIY Medicine Movement” and those who are taking their health in their own hands, including those seeking abortions;

• Basketball player Steph Curry cited abortion rights as one of the reasons it was “an easy choice” to endorse Kamala Harris;

• And POLITICO profiles Hadley Duvall, the young Kentucky woman who has been campaigning for Kamala Harris and is credited with winning re-election for Gov. Andy Beshear.

2024

It wasn’t so long ago that JD Vance said that Donald Trump would veto a national abortion ban—a comment we knew was bullshit, especially given Republicans’ tricky definition of ‘ban.’ But now Vance is walking those comments back, saying he “learned his lesson” on speaking for Trump. Because remember, during the presidential debate last week, Trump refused to say whether he’d veto a ban and chastised Vance, saying, “I didn’t discuss it with JD.”

In an appearance on “Meet the Press” his weekend, Vance claims that he and Trump “still haven’t discussed” the possibility of a national abortion ban. I doubt that’s true, but even if it was—it’s not a good look for the candidates. Abortion is perhaps the most important political issue of the election and you simply haven’t talked about it?

Vance continued by saying the idea of a national ban is “not realistic” and that Trump “has been clear, a national abortion ban is not on the table.”

What was interesting to me about the interview is the way that Vance repeated this “back to the states” talking point that Republicans are so fond of:

“He wants abortion policy to be made by the states because he thinks, look, Alabama is going to make a different decision from California, and that’s okay. We’re a big country. We can disagree.”

As I’ve written so many times before, this is their way of trying to distance themselves from abortion and avoid voters post-Roe anger. Republicans think that they can just shrug the issue off and Americans won’t notice. But with stories like the one from ProPublica coming out—with more women dying—they’re going to have to do a lot better than that.

“They must refuse to let Mr. Trump and other Republicans suggest that leaving decisions about abortion up to the states is a benign proposition and continue to point to the wide-ranging impact of abortion bans on pregnancy care, miscarriage treatment and training opportunities for an entire generation of doctors. Ms. Harris would do well, even, to devote an entire speech to the issue, laying out her plan to take action in support of abortion rights, with or without Congress.”

Former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, in a New York Times op-ed laying why Kamala Harris needs to take her abortion rights support “to an eleven.”

Keep An Eye On

I’m going to leave you with an absolutely wild story out of Massachusetts that shows you how far anti-abortion activists are willing to go to stop women from having abortions. A new lawsuit brought by abortion clinic Four Women Health Services alleges that the crisis pregnancy next door hacked into their records and sent patients messages canceling their appointments or directing them to their fake ‘clinic’ instead. From the Boston Globe:

“AWHC interfered with the care of at least four patients in this way, the lawsuit alleges. One woman booked an appointment online with Four Women for birth control. Within minutes, somebody from AWHC called to tell the woman they could not give her birth control, but that she could come to a diaper giveaway instead. Another woman messaged Four Women to schedule an appointment for an abortion. Within two minutes of uploading her insurance information to the clinic’s system, the woman got a call from someone at AWHC, who told her she was required to go there for an ultrasound first.”

Attorney Matthew Patton, who filed the suit, said, “Instead of just blocking the doors, they are getting into women’s pockets through their cellphones.”

I wish I could say I was surprised, but we know that anti-abortion groups don’t give a flying fuck about women’s privacy. Remember, it was just this past May when Abortion, Every Day found that the country’s largest and most powerful network of crisis pregnancy centers had shared their clients’ private health with corporate employees and thousands of center trainees.