Vigil held for two Georgia women whose deaths were tied to abortion restrictions
The vigil for Amber Thurman and Candi Miller was held in front of the Free and Just mural on Edgewood Avenue in Atlanta
By Akilah Winters
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ATLANTA, Georgia (WXIA) — Family members and community leaders gathered Tuesday for a vigil to honor the lives of two Georgia women whose deaths were tied to the state’s strict abortion laws.
The vigil was held in front of the Free and Just’s mural on Edgewood Avenue.
Amber Thurman and Candi Miller’s stories were brought to light last year from a ProPublica report drawing attention to the abortion restrictions.
Thurman died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat complications that occurred after she took abortion pills. Reported by ProPublica, the case was the first publicly documented instance of a woman dying from delayed care tied to a state abortion law.
The news organization also reported on Miller’s death, a woman with lupus, diabetes and hypertension who took abortion pills she ordered online. An autopsy found fetal tissue that hadn’t been expelled and a lethal combination of painkillers, ProPublica reported. The state’s maternal mortality review committee did not believe abortion medication caused her death. All members of the review committee were dismissed following ProPublica’s report.
Georgia’s abortion law was at one point invalidated by a Fulton County judge. However, in October 2024, the Georgia Supreme Court restored the abortion law as a legal challenge against it continues to draw out in state courts.
Georgia’s abortion law was recently again in the spotlight during Adriana Smith’s case, a pregnant mother who loved ones said was forced to stay on life support while brain-dead so her baby could be medically delivered.
“Instead of working to keep Georgia women safe, or addressing the state’s alarmingly high maternal mortality rate among Black women, Georgia health authorities are circling the wagons, and attempting to make it more difficult to understand how and why pregnant women across Georgia are suffering poor pregnancy outcomes, and even preventable deaths,” a news release about the vigil stated.
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