Georgia Axes Maternal Mortality Panel Following Abortion Ban Death Report

Following a ProPublica report that linked Georgia’s abortion ban to the preventable deaths of two women, state officials have terminated all members of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, according to the news organization’s latest update.

ProPublica initially brought to light the committee’s conclusions regarding Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller in September, which prompted widespread criticism of the abortion restrictions and the mainly Republican officials who support them. In response, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, then a presidential candidate, visited Atlanta to honor the two women.

“They were upset that journalists uncovered that the state’s ban resulted in two fatalities.”

The stories of Thurman and Miller “became a pivotal topic” not only in the presidential race—eventually won by Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who has openly credited his efforts for the overturning of Roe v. Wade—but also in several state referendums aiming to safeguard abortion rights, with seven out of ten proposals passing.

In a November 8 letter revealed by ProPublica, Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, stated that an “investigation failed to determine who leaked confidential information” despite state laws and confidentiality agreements signed by the committee members.

Toomey noted that the committee was “immediately disbanded,” and that a new panel would be established through a fresh application process. She also mentioned that new measures concerning confidentiality, supervision, and structural organization are being considered.

ProPublica reported that the office of Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who appointed Toomey, declined to comment, directing inquiries to the health department, whose spokesperson also refrained from commenting, indicating that the letter “speaks for itself.”

As detailed by the outlet:

Advocates for reproductive rights argue that Georgia’s decision to dismiss and reorganize its committee might deter future committee members from thoroughly investigating maternal deaths if those could be politically controversial.

“They did their job. This is why their presence is crucial,” commented Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, a group opposing Georgia’s abortion ban in court. “This sudden dissolution worries me about what might be lost in the interim, in terms of time and data?”

Other advocates for reproductive rights and journalists echoed similar concerns following the new report from ProPublica—which also covered the deaths of two women in Texas, Josseli Barnica and Nevaeh Crain.

“Women died because they lacked essential medical care during miscarriages in Georgia, and the state’s answer was to simply eliminate the committee that investigated these maternal deaths,” stated writer and organizer Hannah Riley.

The National Institute for Reproductive Health, an advocacy group, claimed that “when anti-abortion politicians are confronted with FACTS they find inconvenient, they dismantle the mechanisms designed to hold them accountable.”

New York magazine senior correspondent Irin Carmon, who is set to release a book about pregnancy in the U.S., noted: “This is their method of concealing the repercussions of abortion bans—fire anyone who sheds light on the harm. Those who are or could become pregnant will bear the consequences.”

Jessica Valenti, author of the newsletter Abortion, Every Day and the book Abortion, also pointed out that Georgia officials dismissed the panel members because “they were displeased that journalists discovered that the state’s ban led to two deaths.”

“In my book, I discuss how they obscure our deaths,” Valenti continued. “In Idaho, they completely disbanded the Maternal Mortality Review Committee; in Texas, they appointed a well-known anti-abortion activist to distort the facts.”

“I’m certain that when Georgia fills those vacancies on the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, they’ll appoint anti-abortion activists,” she added. “Just wait and see.”