Democrats blame abortion bans for Georgia woman's death

Democratic lawmakers, including Vice President Kamala Harris, are blaming abortion bans for the death of a Georgia woman who was denied immediate care due to the state's restrictive laws.

The big picture: Abortion is on the ballot in November, and voters have indicated it's a key election issue.

• Harris has made reproductive rights central to her campaign, while former President Trump has flip-flopped on his abortion stance and is now campaigning with a leave-it-to-the-states approach.

Zoom in: An investigation published by ProPublica on Monday highlighted the circumstances of Amber Nicole Thurman's 2022 death — the first publicly reported death caused by delayed abortion care.

• Georgia law bans abortions when cardiac activity has been detected in an embryo, which is at around six weeks.
• The death of the 28-year-old mother occurred two weeks after the state's restrictive abortion law went into effect following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

State of play: Harris blamed Trump for his part in abolishing national abortion rights, which the former president has taken credit for given he appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who issued the ruling.

• "This young mother should be alive, raising her son, and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school," she said in a statement Tuesday.
• "Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms, losing their ability to ever have children again," she said. "Survivors of rape and incest are being told they cannot make decisions about what happens next to their bodies. And now women are dying."
• The Democratic presidential nominee added: "These are the consequences of Donald Trump's actions."

What they're saying: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said in a Tuesday X post that "abortion bans have fatal consequences."

• Thurman "should still be alive, and this tragedy should never have happened," he said. "As a pro-choice pastor, I will *always* support reproductive rights and freedom for women."

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said on X Tuesday that Thurman "died because of an abortion ban." Now, "her 6-year-old is left to navigate the world without his mother. Horrific and unacceptable."

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) wrote on X Tuesday, "Public health specialists warned us that abortion bans would cause preventable deaths."

• Now, "we learn" that Thurman "died of sepsis while doctors postponed treating her because they feared criminal prosecution," he said, adding that she "should be alive today."

Former Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams, who lost the state's 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial races to Gov. Brian Kemp (R), said women like Thurman "are dying in Georgia due to Kemp's abortion ban."

• The voting rights advocate encouraged people to head to the polls.
• "We don't have ballot initiatives, but we do have state leg elections," Abrams said. "Republicans who support this heinous law must be fired in November. No exceptions."

The other side: The Trump campaign on Tuesday blamed the hospital for failing to provide Thurman life-saving care.

• "President Trump has always supported exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, which Georgia's law provides," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said per ABC News. "With those exceptions in place, it's unclear why doctors did not swiftly act to protect Amber Thurman's life."
• Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Kemp, in an emailed statement late Tuesday declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Thurman's death, saying it "would violate federal and state patient privacy laws for our office or any party to access" the report.
• "Every life is precious, including that of Amber Nicole Thurman, which is why we support life at all stages in Georgia," Douglas added.