The Death of Amber Nicole Thurman
Cruel and Unnecessary
Make no mistake about it. Amber Nicole Thurman of Georgia died because of the Christian right, (those who feel that they and they alone know what Christianity is all about), the Supreme Court, and Donald Trump. ProPublica reported that “the cause of Amber Thurman’s death was the Republican-led criminalization of healthcare for women when she developed a condition that demanded immediate lifesaving attention.
She died because the dead fetal tissue in her womb was allowed to fester there, causing sepsis which eventually began to shut down her organs. An agonizing death. A simple procedure called dilation and curettage or D & C, would have saved the life of this young mother.
A D & C saved my life when I was a young married woman in my twenties. Eight weeks pregnant, I had miscarried, and my husband rushed me to the emergency room of our local hospital where we were met by my gynecologist, a young doctor named Charles Straniero, who held my hand and said, “Don’t worry honey. I’ll take care of this,” as I was wheeled into a surgical unit.
And he did. He alleviated the excruciating pain, stopped the bleeding, and made sure that no dead tissue was left inside my womb. In a few days I was whole and healthy and two years later was successfully delivered of twin daughters. The absolute truth is that without the D & C, I would have died leaving a young husband behind, alone and grieving.
No one, no one, should have to suffer a death like Amber Nicole Thurman did because of a law that deliberately made her less valuable as a human being because of her gender. Less valuable than the justices on the Supreme Court, less valuable than those of the Christian right, simply because she was a woman. A woman who would be alive today but for the law in Georgia prohibiting abortion for any reason, even to save a woman’s life.
The presidential election of 2024 is the most important one in the history of the United States of America. It is truly a life and death situation in so many ways, none more so than making sure we have total and complete autonomy over our own bodies and over our own lives.
Please take this seriously. Your lives and the lives of your family depend on it.
© 2024 copyright Kristen Houghton all rights reserved
Another victim of the abortion law in Georgia was Candi Miller, 41-year-old, wife and mother of three.