VP says woman's death after delayed abortion treatment shows consequences of Trump's actions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that the death of a young Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from an abortion pill shows the consequences of Donald Trump's actions.

Amber Thurman's death, first reported Monday by ProPublica, occurred just two weeks after Georgia's strict abortion ban was enacted in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn nationwide abortion rights. Trump appointed three of the justices who made that decision and has repeatedly said he believes states should decide abortion laws.

"This young mother should be alive, raising her son, and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school,” Harris said in a statement. “Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms, losing their ability to ever have children again. Survivors of rape and incest are being told they cannot make decisions about what happens next to their bodies. And now women are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions.”

Harris brought up Thurman's “tragic” case just hours later again during a sit-down interview with a trio of journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists. She is likely to continue raising Thurman's death through Election Day as Democrats try to use the issue of abortion access to motivate women voters. Harris said she wants to restore Roe v. Wade protections if elected president, an unlikely feat that would require a federal law passed with bipartisan support from Congress.