Harris echoes debunked claim about Georgia abortion limits causing woman's death despite pushback from doctors
Vice President Kamala Harris repeated the left's claim Sunday that a woman in Georgia died due to delayed care as a result of the state's abortion limits, despite doctors previously denouncing the narrative as false.
During an interview on the raunchy and often-sexually explicit "Call Her Daddy" podcast, host Alex Cooper asked Harris about the impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, blaming the death of Amber Nicole Thurman on the Supreme Court ruling and the state’s abortion limits after she received a chemically induced abortion in 2022.
"So, Amber was a young mother of a six-year-old son. She was a medical assistant who was so excited because she was just getting on her feet to be independent. She got her own apartment in a gated community with a pool that her son could play in. She got accepted to nursing school," Harris told listeners.
WALZ REPEATS GEORGIA ABORTION DEATH FALSEHOOD DECRIED BY DOCTORS AS ‘FEARMONGERING’
"She was, as described by her family, so excited and so ambitious, and she had plans. Then she found out she was pregnant, and she didn't want to go through with her pregnancy. And she was living in Georgia, and she couldn't receive care there because she was past six weeks. And so she ended up going to another state, and…she couldn't get there on time. And because the other state had been so overwhelmed by all these women coming from all these southern states who couldn't get treatment in their own state, her window for her appointment had closed and instead of having a surgical procedure, she had medication and basically went back home and then had some complications and went to the hospital because she was bleeding."
"And they delayed 20 hours before they treated her," Harris continued, suggesting that Georgia's laws prevented her from receiving lifesaving care.
Her remark comes after ProPublica published an article last month blaming the deaths of two Georgia women, Thurman and Candi Miller, on the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the state’s new abortion limits.
Harris and other members of the Democratic Party, including her running mate Tim Walz, have cited their deaths as evidence for the need to expand abortion access after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
"Here's the thing that's so messed up about this," Harris told Cooper. "Some of these people will say whoa, but I do believe in exceptions, I believe that there should be an exception in terms of the life of the mother. You know what that means in practical terms? She's almost dead before you decide to give her care. What, so we're going to have public health policy that says a doctor, a medical professional, waits until you're at death's door before they gives you care. That's outrageous…where is the humanity?"
Georgia's heartbeat law states that "no abortion shall be performed if the unborn child has a detectable human heartbeat except in the event of a medical emergency or medically futile pregnancy."
OB-GYNs have criticized the Amber Thurman narrative as a misleading story that is being pushed by the media and Democrats.
OB-GYNS DECRY THE 'FEARMONGERING' ABOUT GEORGIA'S ABORTION LAWS: 'THE LIES ARE HURTING WOMEN'
Charlotte Lozier Institute Vice President and Director of Medical Affairs Dr. Ingrid Skop called out the "fearmongering" and "lies" of the media that are hurting women who don’t understand new abortion laws.
"I was not surprised to see this pro-abortion media try to point the blame at Georgia’s pro-life laws, but, in fact, Georgia’s laws allow doctors to intervene to save the life of the woman," Skop recently told Fox News Digital.
"I think the focus of the Democratic Party upon abortion as an issue is only because the American people do not understand the laws. Many times, women are hurt by abortions. It is not necessary for women to live their best life. And, of course, it’s the fearmongering and lies that have led us to this place where we are today, where people even think there would be a reason to point at the law."
U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., and state Rep. Mark Newton have also come out to say they don't believe Georgia laws had anything to do with Thurman's death, alleging it was caused by complications from abortion pills because doctors may have waited too long to intercede.
"We never deny a woman an abortion because it's going to harm her in some way. She will always be protected," McCormick said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
"You have every right to an abortion, even with that heartbeat law," he continued. "So, let's make that very clear right now. When they say there's no exceptions, there's never any law in any state where there's no exceptions. That doesn't exist. That's simply not the way it works. The mother's life is always protected. With that said, it doesn't mean it's easy to get an abortion just because you have a complication or because something goes wrong."
Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), made similar comments on "Fox & Friends" last month.
"We are seeing the direct results of spreading lies and misinformation about these laws. Women are being harmed by that because they are delaying in seeking care. And so I think it's really important, no matter where somebody stands on the issue of abortion, we should all want women to have accurate information so that they seek care immediately if they're experiencing complications from things like these high-risk abortion drugs," Francis said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
ProPublica previously defended their story in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, "We stand by our reporting. The state’s committee of more than 30 experts concluded that the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller were preventable, a newsworthy finding. Our ongoing reporting is illuminating the challenges doctors face in caring for patients with pregnancy complications in states with restricted access to abortion."
The Harris campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.