Thurman’s death is certainly tragic. However, there are aspects to her story that we simply do not know. ProPublica, which broke the story, indicates that an official state committee tasked with examining pregnancy-related deaths deemed Thurman’s death “preventable.” However, the full review of her patient case is not public. Furthermore, the ProPublica article contains no information from medical professionals directly involved with Thurman’s care. Communications staff from this hospital and the Georgia Department of Public Health also did not provide comments on Thurman’s case.

More importantly, as my Charlotte Lozier Institute colleague Dr. Christina Francis points out in her recent Atlanta Journal Constitution opinion piece, Georgia’s pro-life heartbeat act was not responsible for Thurman’s death. That is because the law allows physicians to intervene in cases of medical emergencies or if the preborn child has no detectable heartbeat. Both of these clearly applied in Thurman’s case. Furthermore, a D&C to remove the remains of an unborn child that has died is not an abortion and is not criminalized in Georgia.

In this case, Thurman’s death was caused by chemical-abortion pills. However, mainstream media outlets steadfastly refuse to cover the risks of these chemical-abortion drugs.