Harris blames reports of pregnancy-related death in Georgia on ‘Trump Abortion Bans’

Vice President Harris on Tuesday blamed former President Trump for Georgia’s restrictive abortion law after a new report that found an abortion-related death in the state was “preventable.”

ProPublica published a report on Monday that revealed a 28-year-old Georgia mother died after not receiving care for an infection due to the state’s law. The report said the woman should not have died, citing an official state committee, adding that the experts examining pregnancy-related deaths “deemed hers ‘preventable’ and said the hospital’s delay in performing the critical procedure had a ‘large,’ impact on her fatal outcome.”

“This young mother should be alive, raising her son, and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school,” Harris said in a statement.

“This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down. In more than 20 states, Trump Abortion Bans are preventing doctors from providing basic medical care. Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms, losing their ability to ever have children again,” she added. “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 also argued that restoring freedoms are at stake in the 2024 election, warning that Trump would sign a national abortion ban. Trump refused to commit to vetoing a national abortion ban during last week’s presidential debate.

“We must pass a law to restore reproductive freedom. When I am President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law. Lives depend on it,” Harris said.

The Trump campaign responded to the ProPublica report that its “unclear” why the life of the Georgia mother, named Amber Thurman, wasn’t protected in the situation.

“President Trump has always supported exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, which Georgia’s law provides. With those exceptions in place, it’s unclear why doctors did not swiftly act to protect Amber Thurman’s life,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Georgia has a six-week abortion ban, which the Georgia Supreme Court in October 2023 ruled is constitutional and would remain in place. The ruling declared access to abortion in the state will continue to be restricted, and most abortions will remain illegal once a physician can detect fetal cardiac activity, which is usually around six weeks gestation.  

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday shared the ProPublica report on X, highlighting, “her death was preventable.”

Story updated at 6:52 p.m. ET