Georgia State Representative Inga Willis has penned an op-ed regarding Georgia’s six-week abortion ban which resulted in the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller. (Photo submitted by Georgia State Rep. Inga Willis)This week, from the bench of the Fulton County Superior Court, Judge Robert McBurney issued a ruling that shifts Georgia’s abortion restrictions from the six-week ban back to 22 weeks of pregnancy. A glimpse of reproductive freedom appeared, only to be quickly overshadowed by the attorney general’s intent to appeal.Although we’ve entered the official beginning of fall, this moment in America feels like anything but a season of necessary change. With less than 35 days until a historic presidential election—where, for the first time, a Black woman could be elected President of the United States—this period emerges as one of profound societal contrasts.“The Black Woman’s Body was never hers alone” – Fannie Lou HamerTwo preventable deaths have resulted from Georgia’s six-week abortion ban. Amber Thurman and Candi Miller died in Georgia, underscoring the disparity between valued lives and those sacrificed by restrictive Republican laws. “Legal restrictions hinder our ability to intervene when a mother’s life is at risk, forcing us to wait until she’s in grave danger—when our role is to prevent that in the first place. It condemns women to life-threatening situations.” — Dr. Joye Lowman, Urogynecologist and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Morehouse School of Medicine.(Photo submitted by Georgia State Rep. Inga Willis)In 2022, the CDC reported that the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births—significantly higher than the rates for White (19.0), Hispanic (16.9), and Asian (13.2) women. Black women also have the highest infant mortality rate, at 10.55 deaths per 1,000 live births (Centers for Disease Control). Stanford Health Economist Maya Rossin-Slater coauthored a study showing that maternal mortality rates are equally high for high-income Black women and low-income White women. “The well-documented Black-White gap in infant and maternal health is not just explained by differences in economic circumstances, it suggests it’s much more structural (New York Times, 2023).”  Not even wealth can save women—only systemic change can. Disparities are further exacerbated when abortion-related healthcare is criminalized. For instance, sepsis—often mistaken for common pregnancy symptoms— quickly becomes a deadly infection if untreated, as was the case with Amber Thurman.She traveled to North Carolina for abortion care. Arriving just minutes too late for her appointment, she was given the pills instead. Back home, she took them as directed, and stomach pains became unbearable. Seeking help at Piedmont Henry Hospital, doctors hesitated to perform the necessary dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure, which clears the uterus after abortions or miscarriages. Caught between saving the patient and protecting themselves, Amber suffered for 20 hours without the life-saving procedure.  28-year-old Amber Thurman gruesomely died from septic shock because doctors feared what would happen to them. She leaves behind a six-year-old son, and dreams of becoming a nurse. She should still be here. Candi Miller had Lupus, diabetes, and hypertension. This increased her risks of miscarriage, premature birth, and difficult recovery from cesarean sections. She knew that the law made some exceptions for life-threatening emergencies, but didn’t include her chronic conditions. She was high-risk, pregnant, and felt she didn’t have a choice. After taking the abortion pills she’d ordered online, she painfully remained bedridden for days. Her husband and 3 children helplessly watched her moan in agony. Like Amber, her body hadn’t expelled the fetal tissue and she needed a D & C procedure. She took over-the-counter medication for pain and was found dead the next morning by her husband.  Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee concluded her death was both preventable and a result of the abortion ban (Propublica, 2024). She was a hairstylist, a wife to Alex, and a mother of three. Candi Miller should still be here.These women deserved to make their own life decisions. Instead, Republican policy did it for them. Why? What is pro-life about letting women die? Throughout history, a woman’s body has never been her own. James Marion Sims, is known as the “Father of Modern Gynecology”. His surgical techniques developed by experimenting on enslaved Black women without anesthesia. The Eugenics movement of the 1920s sought to “improve” American society by sterilizing women deemed genetically inferior. State-sanctioned sterilization continued through the 20th century, with federally funded non-consensual sterilizations of 100,000 Black and Indigenous women.Reproductive control policies are an ancient practice still alive in modern times. In November, the fight for women’s reproductive rights is fully on the ballot. Without access to essential healthcare, women will continue to die preventable deaths while we turn their names into hashtags. I’ll be thinking of Amber and Candi when I cast my ballot this November. For the future of freedom, and in honor of those who should still be here, I hope you will too.Georgia State Representative Inga Willis is a Democrat representing Georgia’s 55th State House District which contains portions of Atlanta and South Fulton. Willis is an Atlanta native and a proud graduate of Howard University. The views and opinions expressed are entirely her own.The post Georgia State Rep. Inga Willis: Georgia’s Body Politics Prove to be a Death Sentence appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.