Did you know that a 28-year-old woman, Amber Thurman, a Georgian, was unfortunately a victim of some deadly postoperative complications caused by abortion in 2022? Well, ever since, in her name, her family has brought the responsible medical institution before a court, contending that her life could have been spared by doctors if they had been more prompt in their action. The case points to Georgia’s excessively binding abortion laws, as well as having medical personnel delay the real treatment because of them. All in all, it includes some very serious women’s health and abortion limitation issues. So, let’s talk about this Amber Thurman Lawsuit by going a bit in-depth.
Who Was Amber Thurman?
Amber already had a son and she had plans to go to a nursing school soon after she found out that she was pregnant with twins. After finding such a condition, she really made a difficult decision and decided to choose abortion as an option, thinking this was the best thing for her at the moment. However, as a result of the procedure, she had complications because the fetal tissue was not fully expelled. This incident sent her to search for other medical help.
Then What Led to Amber’s Death?
Amber began the process of a surgical abortion in North Carolina, where she found the abortion laws are stricter than in Georgia. On the other hand, due to delays, the doctor prescribed her abortion pills. After her consumption of the drug, the body continued to keep some tissue, hence health defects were produced. As a result, she went to Piedmont Henry Hospital in Georgia for a medical procedure known as dilation and curettage (D&C) to take out the remaining tissue. It was then that although she was having clear signs of an infection like severe pain and low blood pressure, it was over 20 hours that Amber waited until the doctors decided to conduct surgery. By this time, the infection was all over and out of control, and she ended up in the operating room having organ failure, and that is precisely what took her life.
So What Is Georgia’s Abortion Law and Its Role in Amber’s Case?
You see, back in the year 2019, the state of Georgia passed a law that put a ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. And just so you know, this law has some exceptions for when a woman’s life is at stake, but the vague wording of the law makes it hard for doctors to make certain that they are acting according to the law and this makes many doctors take a step back in emergencies. So, it is safe to say that they fear legal repercussions.
Though, in Amber’s situation, the medical staff had a tough time deciding whether or not they could perform D&C since a miscarriage as per the law was not how her case was defined. Thus, this confusion contributed to the delay in Amber’s treatment which ultimately took her life. So, this lawsuit raises the main question: Who was at fault for her life?
The Lawsuit Against the Hospital
In this case, Amber’s family represented by lawyer Ben Crump is filing a suit against the hospital, arguing that the delay in treatment was unnecessary and violated her rights, which surely is the case. They claim that even though the abortion laws are strict in Georgia, the doctors had a responsibility to prioritize Amber’s life because the pregnancy was no longer viable.
All in all, Georgia’s own health review panel determined that Amber’s death was preventable concluding that the prompt action of the hospital was a major factor in the death. And they pointed out that if measures had been taken earlier, they could have saved her life.
