Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, October 4, 30 abortion rights organizers, allies and community members gathered to mourn the deaths and celebrate the lives of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller. Thurman and Miller tragically passed away because they were unable to access lifesaving reproductive care, as a result of Georgia’s draconian anti-abortion laws. Their stories just recently came to light after the state’s maternal mortality review committee ruled both of their deaths preventable.

The square in front of the Mayday bookstore, where the vigil took place, was bathed in the warm light of candles as the sun set. At the center of crowd, a tree was adorned with pictures honoring the two women, framed by bouquets of flowers.

The vigil, hosted by the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC), began with organizer Kristen Bledsoe painting a more complete picture of Thurman’s and Miller’s lives, stating, “I want to talk for a moment about who they were as people, not just as redacted names on a state committee review but as the living, breathing people they were. Amber Nicole Thurman was 28 years old when she died.”

Bledsoe continued, “According to reports, she loved being a mother to her six-year-old son. She loved taking her son on trips to petting zoos, museums and beaches, and she posted to social media, ‘the talks I have with my son are everything.’ Candi Miller was 41 when she died. The ProPublica report on her death said that she had a soft spot for stray cats, nurtured a garden, and was known to break into dance at the sound of old-school funk like the Commodores.”

Bledsoe went on to discuss the difficulties and dangers that their pregnancies presented them with, and the ways in which Georgia’s legal circumstances surrounding abortion denied them care or prevented them from seeking it out in the first place, and stated, “These women both decided to have abortions to give themselves a better chance at life, and that’s where the story should have ended.”

The next speaker, Monique Cullors-Doty, representing Black Lives MatterMinnesota, BLM Twin Cities Metro, and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice. She said, “This is truly a reflection of America’s government, it is a reflection of those who are in power, those who don’t care about Black people, those who don’t care about working-class people, who don’t care about the poor. This is very indicative of the actions that they take.”

After both speeches, MNAAC emcee Olivia Crull invited anyone present to come up and speak about their experiences and the impact these deaths had had on them. Several MNAAC members took to the mic to express their grief and the tremendous fear and anger they felt as people in their lives had been forced to navigate repressive abortion legislation or a lack of access to reproductive care.

The vigil ended with Crull leaving the audience with an impassioned call to action to fight back against the political forces behind the anti-abortion movement and join the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee in its grassroots reproductive justice work.

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