Kamala Harris’ Unchecked Abortion Hoaxes

• Kamala Harris and Tim Walz falsely claimed Georgia's abortion restrictions caused the death of a young woman

• Harris avoids tough interviews, favoring softer media platforms that do not challenge her false narratives

• This can shape voter opinion in a way that rigs the election for Democrats

The story

During a recent appearance on the popular sex podcast Call Her Daddy, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed that Georgia’s abortion restrictions were to blame for the death of a young woman named Amber Thurman.

The show’s host, Alex Cooper, suggested that Thurman was unable to receive the emergency medical care she needed due to Georgia’s laws and that “the doctors were too afraid to treat her.”

In 2022, Amber Thurman decided to end her pregnancy at nine weeks, so she made an appointment at a clinic in North Carolina to receive a surgical abortion. Georgia, her home state, outlaws abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Thurman ended up arriving late to her appointment, so the clinicians opted to give her medical abortion pills instead.

Thurman drove back home, and in the following days, she experienced complications that turned out to be acute severe sepsis. She went to an emergency room, where it was implied in the initial reporting from ProPublica that the doctors refused to provide her with life-saving care due to Georgia “criminalizing” the procedure she needed.

This is not true, and the reality is that, as was buried deep in ProPublica’s report, it is unclear why the doctors refused her care. In Thurman’s case, her child had already died, meaning any medical procedure wouldn't have been classified as an abortion anyway.

The facts of this situation have not stopped Kamala Harris or her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), from grossly misrepresenting Amber Thurman’s death for political purposes.

The politics

Harris, who has been pushing the hoax for weeks, drew sharp criticism from conservative figures, including pro-life advocate Lila Rose, who stated, "It is reprehensible to use a mother’s tragic and preventable death" to advocate for more abortions.

Similarly, Allie Beth Stuckey and other right-wing commentators condemned Harris for "malicious disinformation," emphasizing that pro-life legislation did not cause Thurman’s death, but rather the very abortion pills that some on the right have highlighted as dangerous.

On the other side, Democratic politicians and liberal media outlets have rallied to support Harris’ narrative. The New York Times published an opinion piece titled, “It Was Only A Matter of Time Before Abortion Bans Killed Someone,” and other media giants like MSNBC and Slate echoed similar sentiments.

It’s not only Kamala Harris and her running mate echoing falsehoods on abortion, but the mainstream media working in tandem.

This controversy has also involved high-profile Democrats like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who have used the incident as a call to expand abortion access.

Where the media misses

The media tends to overlook the fact that Kamala Harris often avoids hard-hitting interviews where she would face serious pushback, particularly on abortion.

Her recent appearances on softer platforms like Call Her Daddy, The View, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert do not challenge her with any real challenge or follow-up questions about her stances. And while Trump and Vance often prefer friendly interviews, they have gone into the lion’s den on unfriendly media networks far more frequently than Harris or Walz.

The Washington Post even put out their own “fact-check” of Harris’ recent media interviews, and the word “abortion” does not appear even a single time, despite her recent untruths.

The BBC also released a fact-check and mentioned that Harris’ assertion that nearly every state in the South has an abortion ban “needs more context.” They did not mention Amber Thurman.

Why it matters

The controversy around Kamala Harris’ statements and media appearances highlights a deeper issue, in that the mainstream media often parrot misleading narratives from left-leaning politicians instead of holding them accountable.

When politicians like Harris make claims on platforms that don't challenge them with hard questions, this distorts the public’s understanding of key issues and effectively rigs the election.