Amber Nicole Thurman would be alive if it wasn’t for Georgia’s abortion ban.

I just got back from Georgia, and her story was in the hearts of so many people I met.

Trump campaigned on ending access to abortion care. Then he stacked the Supreme Court to do exactly that.

On June 24, 2022 Trump-appointed justices overturned Roe v. Wade. Then Georgia began enforcing its abortion ban that very same day.

Amber was a dedicated mom to her 6 year old son. “The talks I have with my son are everything,” she posted on social media. Every chance she got, she took her son to petting zoos, to pop-up museums and on little trips to the beach. She loved her family deeply.

Amber traveled out of state to receive abortion care. She was provided abortion medication and then she then went back home to Georgia.

Abortion pills are very safe. On rare occasions, they require a follow up surgical abortion if the body has not expelled the tissue fully. That is what happened in Amber’s case. She developed an infection — one that could have easily been treated with a routine procedure called a D and C.

But under Georgia’s abortion ban, a doctor performing that procedure could go to prison for 10 years.

So when Amber showed up at the hospital, vomiting blood, her infection spreading, the question on doctors’ minds wasn't just how they could best care for Amber. It’s also what they have to do to comply with Georgia’s draconian law and to stay out of jail.

That’s never a choice that doctors should be faced with.

After hours of inaction and indecision, Amber died of the infection. A medical board ruled that Amber’s death was entirely preventable.

What happened to Amber Nicole Thurman confirms the real and deadly consequences that Trump and the Republican Party’s abortion bans are having on women and pregnant people. Trump, Gov. Brian Kemp, and the extremist GOP lawmakers who enabled them are responsible for this.

We must fight back and protect and restore sweeping abortion protections at the federal level, including passing my Abortion Justice Act and the Women’s Health Protection Act. If you’re with me on this, add your name to show your support for national abortion protections. Please use your voice today.

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Let me be clear: abortion care is healthcare. And no one should be denied access to the essential medical care they need.

Amber deserved better. I carry her story with me daily. And I will never stop fighting to affirm abortion care as health care and the fundamental human right that it is.

Yours in service,

Ayanna