Georgia abortion death: What's missing in the outrage, political rhetoric
My home state of Georgia has been at the center of a coordinated media tidal wave of more than 1,000 articles within 24 hours coast to coast about a young mother’s death following a chemical abortion.
While Georgia Right to Life was saddened to learn of Amber Thurman’s tragic death, the circumstances have been hijacked by high-profile politicians and misused to suggest that Georgia law is to blame because it prevents women from receiving the life-saving treatment they need once they have taken the abortion pill.
The LIFE Act in no way prohibits a dilation and curettage (D&C) when a preborn child has died in the womb. The Life Act outlaws the “act of using, prescribing, or administering any instrument, substance, device, or other means with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy with knowledge that termination will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of an unborn child.” Amber Thurman entered the emergency room with deceased twin babies. A D&C procedure would not have caused the death of the pre-born twins, as they were already deceased. The Life Act only prohibits a D&C if it is carried out to take the life of a pre-born baby after a detectable heartbeat.
What is missing from the outrage and political rhetoric are the numerous dangers associated with the chemical abortion pill. The chemical pill abortion is a two-pill regimen that allows women to abort their children often in the privacy of their own homes. The unsupervised process takes days and is deadly for both the baby and the mother. What is happening is the average household bathroom has become an abortion clinic. The ability to receive pills in the mail or the use of telemedicine has resulted in thousands of Georgia women and beyond experiencing one of the most horrific physical traumas they will ever have in their lifetime.
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In fact, the FDA’s label for these pills states that 1 in 25 women will visit the emergency room after ingesting the first pill. The first pill is Mifepristone, which blocks the progesterone hormone necessary for the survival of the baby, thus killing the baby. The second pill, which is taken one to two days later, is Misoprostol. Misoprostol is what causes the woman to go into labor, thus expelling the dead body of her baby. Amber Thurman ingested both pills, resulting in the deaths of her twin babies, but suffered severe complications because the deceased bodies of her twin babies were not fully expelled from her body. Amber Thurman, like many women who have taken these pills, was rushed to the emergency room.
While pro-abortion advocates seek to blame Georgia law for Amber’s death, the reality is that chemical and surgical abortions are dangerous, life-threatening, and clearly more catastrophic than the statement that abortion pills are “safer than Tylenol.” The pre-born child experiences certain death, and the mother has to manage physical, emotional, and psychological distress many times for the rest of her life.
It is highly troubling that this one-way dialogue skips the real bombshell — abortion has led to the deaths of more than 63 million innocent lives and counting, including 20 million black babies since 1973. The only way to end such devastation, horror, and irreparable harm or death for women and preborn children is to constitutionally recognize the sanctity of all innocent human life. How many deaths will it take for life to be valued, cherished and protected?
Zemmie Fleck is the executive director of Georgia Right to Life.
