When Georgia’s ban went into effect, Thurman’s pregnancy had just passed six weeks. According to ProPublica, Thurman scheduled a dilation and curettage in North Carolina, which still permitted abortion. But when traffic delayed her travel, the clinic — “inundated with women from other states where bans had taken effect” — could not keep her appointment slot. A clinic employee gave her legally obtained abortion pills to use instead. (“Her pregnancy was well within the standard of care for that treatment,” ProPublica reports.)
Unfortunately, upon her return home, Thurman suffered a highly unusual complication, with increasing pain and heavy bleeding. The North Carolina clinic would have performed a D&C as a free follow-up, but it was too far away. Instead, Thurman went to a nearby hospital. Citing medical records, ProPublica says that “doctors noted a foul odor during a pelvic exam, and an ultrasound showed possible tissue in her uterus.”
Usually, these signs of sepsis would be addressed with a D&C to remove the fetal tissue. But the LIFE Act prohibits “administering any instrument … with the purpose of terminating a pregnancy.” That made performing this normally commonplace and safe procedure a possible felony for the doctors. Hospital staff delayed the procedure for nearly a day, as Thurman’s condition worsened. Finally, hours after her organs began failing, she was taken in for surgery — during which she died. Her mother recalled her last words: “Promise me you’ll take care of my son.”
Georgia’s ‘pro-life’ abortion ban literally killed a woman — and she won’t be the last