The First Known Death Since Abortion Bans. Say Amber Nicole Thurman’s Name. 

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Zain Murdock
October 5, 2024

In the summer of 2022, Georgia passed a “LIFE” Act, banning abortion at six weeks. On that exact day, Amber Nicole Thurman was just over that line. The 28-year-old single mother was planning to enroll in nursing school, and moved into her own place with her 6-year-old son. Her life was stable. So, she and her best friend traveled to North Carolina for abortion pills. The story could have ended there. It didn’t.

Thurman experienced a rare complication that required hospitalization when she got home. She was bleeding and in severe pain. But because Georgia had made the routine dilation and curettage procedure a felony, her hospital couldn’t perform it. Doctors who did risked spending a decade in prison.

Instead of the simple procedure, they tried medications, blood pressure support, and open abdominal surgery. After 20 hours, Thurman’s heart stopped.

Thurman isn’t the only one whose life was stolen. Abortion bans are designed to criminalize and kill Black women like her. These attacks, legal or not, on reproductive health and agency have abused Black communities throughout U.S. history.

Amber Nicole Thurman is the first known pregnant person to die a preventable death since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Remember her story as we resist legalized attacks on reproductive healthcare.

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