Vice President Kamala Harris is set to make a return trip to Atlanta on Friday, where she will emphasize her backing for expanded abortion rights and draw attention to the deaths of two Georgia women who experienced complications from abortion pills. These deaths will be linked by Harris to former President Donald Trump's policies on the matter.

The Democratic nominee plans to address the tragic deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, who both passed away shortly after Georgia implemented its anti-abortion limits following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion. As the November elections draw closer, Democrats are increasingly focusing on the Republican Party's stance on abortion, with recent polls in Georgia and other battleground states showing widespread support for expanding access to the procedure.

According to a poll conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Harris and Trump are currently neck-and-neck in Georgia, a state that Republicans consider vital to their 2024 strategy. Interestingly, the poll reveals that around 10% of likely Georgia voters view abortion as the main influencing factor in their vote.

Anti-abortion advocates acknowledge the tragic nature of these deaths but argue that it was the abortion pills and, in one instance, the negligence of medical providers that caused these fatalities. Amber Thurman, whose death was initially reported by ProPublica, passed away after waiting for 20 hours for hospital treatment. Vice President Harris has attributed her death to Trump's anti-abortion stance, highlighting that he appointed three U.S. Supreme Court justices who played a role in the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Trump now advocates for states to have the final say on abortion laws.

When Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill in 2019, he fulfilled a campaign promise to implement one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. Kemp's spokesperson, Garrison Douglas, pointed out that Georgia's law included clear exceptions that should have prevented the deaths of Thurman and Miller. These exceptions specifically allowed for necessary care in the event of a medical emergency.

Georgia's law prohibits most abortions once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which typically occurs at around six weeks into a pregnancy—often before many people realize they are pregnant. However, some medical experts and abortion rights advocates argue that the law's definition of when an abortion is necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or irreversible physical impairment lacks clarity. They contend that there are no medical definitions that align with this exception, as warned by doctors during the bill's debate.

Vice President Harris expressed grief over Amber Thurman's death, stating that she should have been alive to raise her son and pursue her dream of attending nursing school. Harris firmly stated that women are facing dangerous consequences due to Donald Trump's actions. She mentioned that women are bleeding out in parking lots, being turned away from emergency rooms, and losing their ability to have children in the future. Survivors of rape and incest are also being denied the right to make decisions about the next steps for their bodies.

The Trump campaign responded by stating that the hospital should have provided life-saving treatment. They reiterated the Republican nominee's support for the exceptions to abortion limits written into Georgia's law, including those for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. They questioned why doctors did not respond swiftly to protect Amber Thurman's life with these exceptions in place.

State Senator Ed Setzler, the sponsor of the 2019 abortion bill, called Thurman's death a tragedy and emphasized that the abortion method she used was banned in Georgia due to its potential dangers for women and their unborn children. He argued that the state's law provided doctors with the necessary tools to save lives.

As reported by ProPublica, Thurman sought help from a hospital in 2022 after taking an abortion pill in North Carolina. She was approximately nine weeks pregnant with twins at the time. When the abortion did not complete, Thurman developed sepsis. According to the report, her heart stopped on the operating table in Henry County's emergency room, 20 hours after her arrival.

Georgia Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch commented that the law's exceptions should have allowed Thurman to receive the procedure she needed to save her life. He suggested that better education and information could help address many of the issues highlighted in ProPublica's series.

During a news call held after the initial ProPublica article was published, Krystal Redman, executive director of abortion-rights group SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW, expressed the viewpoint that Thurman's death was another manifestation of the racism inherent in healthcare, leading to Black women in Georgia being three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts. Georgia has consistently had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country.

Recently, anti-abortion activists have focused on restricting one of the two pills used in medication abortions. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the use of mifepristone, the first pill in the abortion pill series, should continue. Mifepristone, approved by the FDA in 2000, is one of the drugs utilized in medication abortions, which account for over half of all abortions in the United States. The approval of the medication was challenged by anti-abortion advocates, but the FDA allowed it to be prescribed via mail following a telehealth visit in 2021.

Abortion laws in Georgia require an ultrasound to determine the pregnancy's gestational age before a medical or surgical abortion can be performed. This ultrasound necessitates an in-person visit. The two-pill combination is the most common method for those seeking an abortion in Georgia, with the pills approved for use up to around 10 weeks of pregnancy. However, due to the state's law, very few abortions are performed in Georgia after approximately five weeks of pregnancy.

In recent years, state lawmakers have made unsuccessful attempts to ban Georgians from receiving abortion pills by mail. Opponents argue that enforcing such a ban would be nearly impossible.

A second ProPublica article released on Wednesday shed light on the tragic death of Candi Miller, a 41-year-old mother of three who passed away a few months after Georgia's abortion ban took effect. Miller had been told by doctors that another pregnancy could jeopardize her life due to a previous childbirth experience. Consequently, when she discovered she was pregnant, she ordered abortion pills online and attempted to terminate the pregnancy at home. Unfortunately, she died a few days later, as she did not seek medical help after it became apparent that the abortion was incomplete.

Overall, Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to Atlanta will serve as an opportunity to not only reinforce her support for expanded abortion rights but also draw attention to the tragic consequences that she attributes to former President Donald Trump's policies on the matter. The issue of abortion is increasingly becoming central to the November elections, with polls indicating broad public support for greater access to abortion in Georgia and other battleground states.