During a campaign stop in Atlanta, Vice President Kamala Harris accused former President Donald Trump of being indirectly responsible for the deaths of two women in Georgia. Harris tied these deaths to Trump’s appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices, who played a key role in overturning Roe v. Wade, leading to state-level abortion bans like Georgia’s six-week restriction. According to a ProPublica report, these women were denied or afraid to seek emergency medical care due to Georgia’s restrictive abortion laws.
Harris Condemns Trump’s Impact on Abortion Rights
At the Atlanta rally, Harris passionately laid blame on Trump’s policies, stating that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has caused preventable deaths. “Now we know that at least two women—Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller—died because of a Trump abortion ban,” Harris emphasized. Both women experienced complications after being denied timely medical care due to Georgia’s restrictive laws.
Thurman, a 28-year-old woman, was denied emergency care for over 20 hours because doctors were hesitant to operate under Georgia’s abortion ban. This delay led to her death. Similarly, Candi Miller, a 41-year-old mother of three, died after ordering abortion pills online but was too afraid to seek medical help when she experienced complications, fearing prosecution under the ban.
Trump’s Response and Harris’s Rebuttal
Trump has distanced himself from a national abortion ban, saying he supports leaving abortion decisions to the states and endorses exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother’s life. His campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reiterated Trump’s stance, saying, “President Trump has always supported exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.” She argued that Georgia’s law provides such exceptions, questioning why doctors did not act sooner to save the women’s lives.
However, Kamala Harris sharply rebutted this defense, warning that Trump’s state-level approach does not eliminate the dangers these bans pose. “For every story we hear about the suffering under Trump abortion bans, there are so many stories we’re not hearing,” Harris said. She added that Trump’s support for Florida’s six-week abortion ban indicates that, if elected, he could still sign a national abortion ban.
Abortion as a Central Issue in 2024
Democrats, including Harris, are making abortion rights a central issue in the upcoming election, hoping to galvanize voters as they did in the 2022 midterms. Harris has been more outspoken on the topic than President Joe Biden, emphasizing the broader effects of abortion bans on women’s reproductive health.
Harris also took aim at Southern lawmakers for pushing restrictive abortion policies while failing to address the region’s high maternal mortality rates. “These hypocrites want to start talking about what’s in the best interest of women and children. Where you been?” Harris asked the crowd, calling out the lack of maternal health care in the South.
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