A recent report confirmed what medical professionals and advocates have warned for years: abortion restrictions kill. The ProPublica report made available Sept.16, uncovered at least two preventable deaths in Georgia following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Two Black women,
Amber Nicole Thurman, 28, and Candi Miller, 41, died from sepsis due to an inability to access appropriate abortive care. Four days after the report’s release, Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage at an Atlanta campaign event to advocate for reproductive rights. Although the presidential candidate continues to hawkishly slip further to the right on many issues, immigration, fracking, military actions and spending, her Sept. 20 speech positioned her as one of the strongest supporters of reproductive justice in the DNC.
Harris defended reproductive freedom with fervor, denouncing the “arcane, unnatural [Trump abortion bans].” She condemned Donald Trump as a threat to women, citing his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and his anti-abortion stances as a previous president. She cautioned that if elected again, Trump and Republicans like him would further curtail abortion access, endangering more lives.
“Is good policy, logical policy, moral policy, humane policy really about saying that a healthcare provider can only offer care when you’re on the brink of death?” Harris questioned, emphasizing the real-world implications of these abortion bans.
Under Georgia’s six-week ban, medical professionals are forced to delay essential care until a patient’s life is critically endangered. Medical providers who perform abortion care outside of these poorly defined and needlessly dangerous circumstances face up to a decade in prison for violating the current state ruling.
Harris’ focus on abortion care in Georgia highlights drastic healthcare gaps in the state. Currently, 82 Georgia counties do not have practicing obstetricians and gynecologists, leaving over half the state without reproductive care. Since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, applications for OB-GYN residency in states with abortion restrictions have decreased.
Post-Dobbs surveys have continued to show that the majority of medical students consider the decision’s impact when choosing their programs, worsening the dangerous healthcare gaps many Georgians outside of the Metro-Atlanta bubble currently face.
These gaps make Georgia one of the most dangerous states to be pregnant and give birth in, boasting the 9th highest maternal mortality rates in the country. More than 80% of these pregnancy-related deaths are entirely preventable. Black mothers in Georgia are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as their white counterparts, highlighting the particularly heightened risks that laws like Georgia’s six-week abortion ban pose to marginalized parents amid the state’s maternal health crisis.
Young people also feel the brunt of these bans and access gaps. Compared to other groups, women in college are three times more likely to experience sexual assault, and college-aged women are most likely to seek abortion care. Recent Gallup polling has shown that abortion access is a significant factor for students deciding where to attend university. For students, an inability to access timely reproductive healthcare can derail their education and plans, placing them in precarious situations with few options.
Notably for Harris, it’s enough for an abortion to be “wanted.” This small distinction marks a major shift in Harris’ approach, which seems to resonate strongly with young voters. Unlike many of her peers, including current President Joe Biden, she accepts abortion not only as a necessity in cases of incest, rape or life-threatening complications but also as a means for women to shape their lives as they see fit. Emphasizing “reproductive freedom” was a particularly important theme of her speech, one that seemed to resonate well with the Atlanta Audience.
Harris affirmed that “the road to the White House runs through Georgia.” Last Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney unexpectedly overturned the current six-week ban, writing that “liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.” His decision seems particularly resonant with Harris’ recent messaging on reproductive freedom — a surprise for the Republican-nominated judge. It is unlikely his decision will stand long, as the state plans to appeal the decision to higher courts that align more closely with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Harris emphasized that as President, she would have the power to permanently protect abortion access, circumventing the courts’ restrictive decisions by signing federal protections into law.
