Protect Medication Abortion
Anti-abortion extremists are attacking medication abortion. Add your name in support of access to medication abortion.
Reproductive Rights Podcast
Waiting to Be “Dying Enough” for Pregnancy Care: Avery Davis Bell on My Body. My Pod. | Episode 18
A Georgia mother shares what happened when abortion bans delayed emergency pregnancy care.
Watch & Listen
In collaboration with Abortion in America, our latest episode of My Body. My Pod. with Mini Timmaraju features Avery Davis Bell, a Georgia mother and scientist who was forced to wait for emergency abortion care.
Key Takeaways
- Georgia’s abortion ban delayed emergency pregnancy care for Avery Davis Bell.
- Abortion ban “exceptions” often fail in real-world medical emergencies, forcing providers to wait until patients become critically ill before providing care.
- + Read More
- Avery’s story highlights how abortion bans impact pregnancy care, emergency medicine, and maternal health—not just abortion access.
- Georgia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, with severe racial and geographic disparities in access to care.
- Storytelling, organizing, and elections remain critical tools in the fight to protect reproductive freedom and emergency pregnancy care.
🔍Closer Look: What Happens When Abortion Bans Force Doctors to Wait
Abortion access is not just about whether care is legal. It’s also about whether patients can safely walk through the clinic doors.
At 18 weeks pregnant, Avery’s water broke during a nonviable pregnancy. Even though doctors knew she needed care, legal uncertainty delayed treatment while providers determined whether she was “sick enough” to qualify under Georgia law.
Avery’s story highlights the dangerous reality of abortion ban “exceptions”: politicians claim emergency protections exist, but in practice, doctors are often forced to wait until patients become critically ill before providing care.
“It’s like insult to injury in the worst possible way,” Avery says. “We were already dealing with loss—a true sadness—and a medical crisis, and [the state] made sure it became life-threatening.”
Avery had every advantage: early prenatal care, expert medical knowledge, access to a major hospital system, and a strong support network. Her story raises an urgent question: if someone with those resources struggles to receive timely emergency care, what happens to patients facing greater barriers to access?
Stay Connected with Abortion in America
Visit Abortion in America and follow on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Discussed in this Episode:
How abortion bans interfere with emergency miscarriage care
Why abortion ban “exceptions” are designed to fail in real-world medical emergencies
What it means when doctors are forced to wait until patients become sick enough to receive treatment
How Georgia’s maternal health crisis is worsening under abortion bans
Why storytelling, organizing, and elections matter in the fight for reproductive freedom
🛬 The Big Picture: Georgia’s Reproductive Freedom Crisis
Avery’s experience reflects a broader crisis unfolding across Georgia after the state’s abortion ban took effect in 2022.
Georgia law criminalizes abortion providers, and research estimates the ban blocks nearly 90% of abortions statewide. Georgia law includes narrow exceptions when a pregnant person’s life or health is at risk.
But exceptions are designed to fail—they are dangerously vague, and create fear, confusion, and delays in care. A recent study found that Georgia’s exceptions actually resulted in further harm to patients and providers.
“Exceptions often resulted in further harm to the well-being of the pregnant person and of providers.”
The state also faces major reproductive health care shortages:
- 82 counties have no OB-GYN physician
- 65 counties have no pediatrician
- Large portions of the state lack adequate primary care infrastructure
- 95% of counties do not have abortion clinic, affecting 55% of Georgians
Abortion bans led to the preventable deaths of two Georgia mothers—Amber Nicole Thurman and Candy Miller. Their stories underscore the horrific consequences of Georgia’s abortion bans. Researchers warn these known deaths are only the “tip of the iceberg,” with many more near misses, emergency complications, and traumatic delays occurring across the state.
3 Ways to Take Action Now
Become a Georgia Volunteer!
There are in-person and online opportunities to get involved.
Tell Your Story
Storytelling is crucial to pushing the reproductive freedom movement forward. Help strengthen the movement when you share your story.
Join the Repro for All Volunteer Elections Team
We're pulling out all the stops to ensure voters get out and vote for reproductive freedom candidates up and down the ballot, and we need your help to make it happen!
🤿 Dive Deeper into the Details
Resources for Abortion Care
If you need abortion care, there are resources available:
- Find abortion care: Explore Abortion Finder, Abortion on our Terms, Plan C, —or chat with Charley the Chatbot (right here on this webpage).
- Medical support: M+A Hotline for abortion care resources
- Financial support: Groups like the National Network of Abortion Funds and ineedana.com can help you access financial resources.
- Legal help: Repro Legal Helpline and Abortion Defense Network
Stories of Harm (trigger warning)
When anti-abortion extremists ban abortion, people don’t just lose access—they face real harm. Patients are navigating dangerous laws and restrictions that endanger their lives and well-being.
Georgia’s Maternal Mortality is 2X the National Average
Georgia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the United States, with approximately 66.3 deaths per 100,000 live births—more than 2x the national average.
Pregnancy-related deaths are preventable in many cases, but delayed or inaccessible care contributes significantly to these outcomes. Rural areas face particular challenges due to limited health care infrastructure.
Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC)
Despite Georgia’s grim maternal mortality rate, its committee in charge of investigating the deaths of pregnant women has been reshaped in ways that raise serious concerns.
In November 2024, state officials dismissed all MMRC members shortly after ProPublica’s reporting on Thurman and Miller’s preventable deaths. State officials won’t say who’s now in charge of the MMRC committee which has not released a public report since 2023 (covering 2020–2022).
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST
ABOUT THE PODCAST
MY BODY. MY POD. WITH MINI TIMMARAJU.
The fight for reproductive freedom is more urgent than ever.
That’s why we’re bringing you My Body. My Pod. with Mini Timmaraju, a reproductive freedom podcast.
If you’re into building a nationwide movement to protect and expand health justice, reproductive equity, and the power of people to control their own lives, this show is for you.
Hear from leaders and changemakers who share wisdom from the front lines, stories of the real struggles people are facing every day, and a vision for the future we’re determined to win.
Hosted by Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All. Available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
Stay in the Know
Sign up to learn how to take action with us.
Reproductive Freedom for All is made up of members across the country who believe that everybody should be free to control their own bodies and lives—and we want you to be a part of it.
Subscribe to be one of the first to receive updates on the state of reproductive freedom and opportunities to take action.
Watch More Episodes
Podcast Reproductive Rights
Abortion Provider Renee Chelian on 50 Years of Protecting Patients, Fighting for Access – My Body. My Pod. Episode 17
Podcast Reproductive Rights
NY AG Letitia James on Defending Abortion, Taking on Trump – My Body. My Pod. Episode 16
Deep Dives Reproductive Rights