GUEST POST: Amber Thurman could have died in a pro-abortion state like Keisha Atkins did. Here’s why.

By: Michael Seibel, originally published September 17, 2024, LiveAction.org

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the guest author.

I am heartbroken upon the news of the tragic death of Amber Thurman. As an experienced malpractice attorney in the OBGYN/abortion area of practice, it turned my stomach to see ProPublica and the author of the publication using the tragedy to blame pro-life laws. To do so denies the family of Amber Thurman to a fair and just trial of what appears to be a great malpractice case against the abortion provider.

Without reviewing the documents or having access to the medical records of Ms. Thurman, I cannot completely assess the cause of her death. However, it is highly unlikely that the cause of her death was the pro-life laws. In fact, it’s more likely that the abortion clinician, the media, or the physicians at the hospital were the ultimate cause of Amber Thurman’s death. To confuse the issue not only denies justice to Amber Thurman, but to women everywhere.

Ms. Thurman attempted to obtain an abortion in North Carolina in August of 2022. On August 13, when Ms. Thurman got to North Carolina, instead of getting a D&C like she initially planned, the clinic employee offered her the abortion pill before she left. Then she presumably took the second pill no later than the next day — August 14, 2022.

Four days later, Ms. Thurman vomited blood and passed out. She was taken by ambulance to Piedmont Hospital. She arrived at the hospital at 6:51 p.m. but wasn’t assessed until 9:30 p.m. She was put on an IV drip and the OBGYN noted the possibility of a D&C the next day, despite noting a foul-smelling vaginal odor. It is unclear when the doctor diagnosed acute severe sepsis. Eventually, seven hours later, doctors attempted surgery, but Ms. Thurman died on the operating table.

Ms. Thurman could have died in a pro-abortion or pro-life state from poor treatment. 

In my opinion, as a malpractice attorney, Ms. Thurman would have died regardless of pro-life laws.

The reason for my opinion is that this is reasonably similar to the case of Keisha Atkins, which was similarly mismanaged in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by Lisa Hofler, an award-winning graduate of Emory University. Ms. Hofler was a graduate of the vaunted Ryan Residency Program and the Family Planning Program at Emory. The Ryan Residency Program is alleged to be the pinnacle of abortion training in the United States. It is supposed to train residents on the best practices of abortion care.

New Mexico was a pro-abortion state long before Roe v. Wade was overturned. In fact, New Mexico was home to one of the most well-known late-term abortion facilities in the U.S.: Southwestern Women’s Options.

Keisha Atkins was admitted to the University of New Mexico on February 3, 2017, after beginning a late-term abortion (24 weeks) at Southwestern Women’s Options on January 31, 2017. Even though her abortion was later in pregnancy, the abortion pill — Mifeprex— was utilized as part of Atkins’ abortion process, as was the second drug in the abortion pill regimen, misoprostol.

Like Ms. Thurman, Ms. Atkins took the abortion pill and experienced similar symptoms similar to Ms. Thurman. Ms. Atkins arrived at UNM with an extremely high white blood cell count. She also had a foul discharge coming from her vagina and was diagnosed with sepsis.

Hofler, a member of the Society of Family Planning’s Committee, stated she would most likely perform a D&C on Ms. Atkins in the morning — the exact same course of treatment discussed for Amber Thurman. Similarly, Ms. Atkins’ condition deteriorated and required an emergency D&C. Keisha Atkins, like Amber Thurman, died on the operating table; performing the D&C was Rameet Singh, another member of the elite Ryan Residency program.

Keisha Atkins died while being treated by the abortion industry experts who seemed to be following the same protocol treatment as that of Amber Thurman. And Atkins died in the most pro-abortion jurisdiction in the country, which had (and still has) zero abortion restrictions.

The abortion industry’s allegedly elite trained ‘experts’ performed no better than the OBGYNs in Amber Thurman’s case.

Keisha Atkins operative report (Drs. Hofler and Singh)

ProPublica’s blaming of the pro-life laws is speculative and a misrepresentation of the safety of the abortion pill to the public.

Abortion pill prescribers must warn of the sepsis risk

The manufacturer of Mifeprex instruct providers to warn the patient of the drug’s sepsis link. The drug manufacturer’s packet insert gives clear guidelines to practitioners regarding the management of the abortion pill and its complications. Section 5.1 of the drug insert warns practitioners as follows:

As with other types of abortion, cases of serious bacterial infection, including very rare cases of fatal septic shock, have been reported following the use of Mifeprex {see Boxed Warning}. Healthcare providers evaluating a patient who is undergoing a medical abortion should be alert to the possibility of this rare event. A sustained (> 4 hours) fever over 100.4̊ F or higher, severe abdominal pain, or pelvic tenderness in the days after the medical abortion may be an indication of infection.

Furthermore, the abortion pill manufacturers inform the physicians to warn the patient of the sepsis risk. The patient agreements regarding the use of these drugs during the deaths of both Ms. Atkins and Ms. Thurman stated: “I have had the medication guide for Mifeprex, I will take it with me if I visit an emergency room or healthcare provider who did not give me Mifeprex, so that they will understand I am having a medical abortion.”

Similarly, the provider agreement requires that the doctor talk with the patient regarding the possibility of heavy bleeding, infection, or ectopic pregnancy. Prior to 2023, it also required the provider to tell the patient that if she visited an emergency room to take the medication guide with her.

Clearly, the manufacturer of Mifeprex instructs providers to warn the patient of a sepsis link, and most physicians would agree that a provider would be negligent in failing to inform the patient of the abortion pill’s sepsis risk. Therefore, any malpractice investigation with regard to Thurman’s death should begin with the prescriber of the abortion pill. Numerous questions remain about what warnings, if any, the prescriber gave to Ms. Thurman.

Was she warned of the possibility of heavy bleeding or infection? Was there any follow up by the prescriber? Why did Ms. Thurman delay going to the hospital until four days later? These questions are far more pertinent to the cause of Amber Thurman’s death than pro-life laws. The prescriber set this cascade of events in motion, and had the responsibility to provide continuity of care but failed to do so. This is a glaring issue that needs to be addressed.

The sepsis care in Ms. Thurman’s case appears suspect. 

While Amber Thurman’s sepsis care in Georgia was remarkably similar to what was provided to Keisha Atkins by Lisa Hofler in New Mexico, it may be well below the standard care of the doctors in Georgia. Both Hofler and the physicians in Georgia initially decided to do a D&C the next morning, yet numerous publications suggest that the proper course of treatment is to remove the septic material immediately.

Instead, there were long delays in both cases. These delays in sepsis care are inexcusable, and greatly reduced the women’s chances of survival in both cases. For every hour of delay in treatment for sepsis, the patient’s risk of death increases by 4-9%.

Ms. Thurman and Ms. Atkins both had long periods of time where the OBGYNs delayed proper sepsis care. Since there is absolutely no evidence in Amber Thurman’s case that pro-life laws were a reason for the delay, a detailed investigation of the long delays is imperative in determining the proximate cause of Amber Thurman’s death.

1. Did the marketing of the abortion pill and media contribute to Ms. Thurman’s death?

In recent years, the abortion industry and the media have downplayed the risks of the abortion pill. Many websites for abortion have repeated this claim, despite the drug’s black box warning for sepsis. Providers and patients alike have downplayed the risk of sepsis. Even emergency room physicians I have spoken with are not aware of the sepsis/abortion pill link. Even though the black box warning states that doctors should be on high suspicion of sepsis, many physicians do not associate the risk with the abortion pill due to biased media coverage.

This raises many questions.

Did Amber Thurman think that the pill was safer than Tylenol? Was Amber Thurman given false assurance as to the safety of the pill? Did her prescriber warn her of sepsis or downplay the sepsis risk? Were the doctors at Piedmont Hospital under the belief that the abortion pill was extremely safe? Did doctors even associate the abortion pill with sepsis risk?

All of these questions must be answered to determine the true cause of Amber Thurman’s death. The media, by repeating false claims about abortion pill safety, may be leading women to their death.

2. Sepsis deaths may be more commonplace unless sepsis protocols are developed around the abortion pill.

Hospitals and emergency room doctors should inform themselves of the abortion pill’s risks, and immediately develop a sepsis protocol for treating patients who took the abortion pill.

The apparent rapid progression of sepsis among the last three public abortion pill cases should be a concerning pattern for hospital personnel. Hospital staff should engage in a modern early warning system (MEWS) protocol for sepsis as early as possible for abortion pill cases. They should elevate their response to the warnings provided by the MEWS system. This protocol will alert the providers sooner and prevent more deaths from the abortion pill/sepsis.  

As with any hospital death Plaintiff’s lawyers will be seeking answers. Plaintiff’s lawyers will soon discover this link between sepsis and the abortion pill, the incidents of these types of injury will become much more well known. Therefore, it is imperative that emergency room doctors prepare for these events so as not to allow patients like Keisha Atkins, Alyona Dixon (who died from post-abortion pill sepsis in the longtime pro-abortion state of Nevada), and Amber Thurman to die.

Protocols insulate innocent doctors from being wrapped up in expensive wrongful death claims.

Conclusion

The media should objectively protect women from danger, not promote a political agenda.

Instead, ProPublica published a speculative hit piece against pro-life laws that exploit a woman’s family for political gain. Instead of blaming pro-life laws, the reporter should be retaining an abortion malpractice attorney to investigate the true cause of Amber Thurman’s death and provide her family with closure and justice.

If this does not happen, I will happily provide the family in North Carolina with attorneys who could pursue this malpractice case.

The media should be attempting to protect women from an unsafe abortion pill/sepsis link. If ProPublica and the mainstream media questioned sepsis/abortion pill link earlier, Amber Thurman and other women might be alive today.

Michael Seibel is a pro-life abortion malpractice attorney based in Albuqeurque. Mr. Seibel has prosecuted abortion malpractice cases on behalf of women injured by the abortion industry.