This week, ProPublica published an article about Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old woman in Georgia who died as a result of her state's abortion ban. She is one of two women so far that we know died as a result of the Georgia ban — but there are likely many unreported stories just like theirs, in Georgia and across the country.
John, this is not a fundraising email. This is an email about why we do the work we do here at EMILYs List.
Amber Thurman died of a treatable infection after sitting in a hospital bed, in pain, for 20 hours. She desperately needed a surgical abortion to address the infection, but her doctors were afraid to treat her and potentially face a decade in prison because of Georgia's abortion ban. By the time they operated, the infection had spread and it was too late. She left behind a six-year-old son.
This fight we are in is not about weeks or exceptions. It's about who gets to make choices about what happens to our bodies. It's about whether patients will get life-saving care when they need it. Amber's death is not just a horrible, heartbreaking tragedy that could have been prevented, but as Vice President Kamala Harris said: it's a direct result of the Georgia ban and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which happened because Donald Trump hand-picked anti-choice extremist Supreme Court justices.
Anti-choice Republican politicians will not be swayed by stories about women bleeding out in hospital parking lots, becoming septic, developing long-term health complications — or dying in front of doctors who risk prison time for treating them. The dangers of these laws are evident, but GOP legislators still refuse to amend abortion bans to protect women's lives. For Republicans, cruelty is the point. The only way to protect women is to keep the GOP out of power at every level of government. Period.
Since 1985, EMILYs List has been fighting to elect Democratic pro-choice women and defeat anti-choice Republicans. This year, with our reproductive care in a national state of emergency, there will be a Democratic pro-choice woman and an anti-choice Republican man at the top of every ballot in America. So our ask for you is this: Please make a plan to vote on November 5 — or sooner.
Thank you for being a part of this fight. May Amber Nicole Thurman rest in peace, and may her memory be a force for change.
Jessica Mackler (she/her/hers)
President, EMILYs List
